Paint Them Red
by GravityPush
Summary: Two groups of completely different types of people band together to help one another in a world drowned in chaos. Will they survive despite their differences or will they crack under the pressure of pure instinct and strive for self preservation? SYOC
1. Good as DEAD

I have decided to write this after a lot of thinking. So this is an SYOC. I will be accepting about 5 enhanced humans and 7 to 8 regular humans. So these enhanced humans have abilities that make them somewhat super human. They can be killed like regular humans. They are only faster and stronger, some even have slight regeneration abilities. The enhanced humans were taken as young children, between the ages of 7-11, and were experimented on. The facility was was technically non-existent along with the children that were taken and its faculty. Each enhanced human has only** one** ability, from the ones that were just listed. I will need both good and bad characters. I **will not** accept any characters through review.** All** submissions** must** be sent through PM. Each author can submit a maximum of 3 characters. **Submission ends on April, 18th! Both OC forms can be found on my profile.**

**Please title subject of PM as Enhanced or Human Application. **Depending on whichever type of oc you submit.

* * *

M.

She had said her name everyday. Everyday for the first year and a half. By now, four years later, she had forgotten her name; just like the others. She was lucky. At least she had remembered the first letter. Nearly six years in this hell hole and she wanted out. She wondered how she would fit back into society. At the age of 17, number 045 wondered what it would be like to have friends.

She curled into herself on a twin sized bed settled in the corner of the small room. White. She had stared at the same white wall for so long. She was tired. Tired of them. Tired of being watched.

_Click!_

045 turned towards the glass door behind her. It had opened. She glanced at the camera perched on the wall in the corner beside the door. She wasn't permitted to leave without escorts. So where were they?

Tentatively, she moved from her bed towards the door. Was this her chance at freedom? She poked her head into the hall. No one. The room across from her was opened as well. 037 was not present. He was probably out on a test run.

But that didn't matter. She wasn't going to let this opportunity slide between her fingers and fall into oblivion. She'd worry about the consequences once she was captured for attempted escape.

* * *

"Aw crap!" One boy yelled. "Today sucks." He glanced around. His short, light brown hair whipped in the wind as he stood outside on the soccer field.

He stood in the center ignoring the angered and annoyed comments of his teammates. "Shin, move your ass!" Someone yelled. At the same moment, the back of his head was struck with soccer ball.

" God, this torture." Shin yelled. Reluctantly, he joined in on the game.

A figure stumbled onto the soccer field. A young man. The remnants of what used to be human. His jaw was slacked, in a loose hang. Blood covered his chin and lips. His skin was a sickly grey color covered with blotches of blood and exposed flesh. The dark blue school uniform was tattered and covered in dirt. His foot was twisted to the side, which resulted in the unstable stagger in his walk.

Shin had momentarily stopped and stared at the young sickly teen. "Hey, are you alright?!" One of his teammates asked. Shin stared in unsure of the figure that approached them. It looked a lot like those things in movies. "Kai, be careful." Shin said. Kai moved to help.

Maybe it was just some kind of joke. Now that he thought about, there was some kind of event that was going on about zombies. Some kind of run to help raise money and awareness or whatever.

Kai covered his nose and mouth. He was repulsed by the scent that the teen had given off. Kai turned to his teammates. "He smells- AHH!" The sudden screams of the boy sent the rest of the teens into a frenzy.

Blood squirted in the air. The grass stained red beneath Kai. The flesh eater's teeth were embedded in his neck. It chomped. A tight hold kept the young man in place. Shin remained rooted to the ground before the scene, wide eyed. Frozen. He feared the same fate. The untimely demise of a human at the ripe age of 17 year old was undesirable.

This was definitely real. This zombie was _real_. Kai was as good as dead. And the rest of the world was going to soon join him.


	2. OCs

**_Sorry for such a late update. The past week has been a mess. The first chapter is about 15% complete, so it should be about 3-4 days for me to complete._  
**

**_And a big thanks to everyone who submitted OCs!_**

* * *

**List of Accepted OCs**

**Human**

Alexandra "Alex" Grimm - Ninja Kat Is Stalking You

Carlos Reyes - Carlos-sama

Josh Frost - I'BeTrollin'InTheWoods

Kyou Hitari - Crazy Awesome Neko

Luna Sanders - B-Rabbit2Alice

Phil Angelo - Lazersword88

Sayaka Okasaki - Patty Loves Giraffes

Shea Sato - JackoLillie

**Enhanced**

Bishop #010- Bandman2000

Caesar Nero #616 - SparkLuxLucios

CE #018 - Patty Loves Giraffes

Hawk #069 - GambitHawk

Riku Hiroshi #065 - RicBP

Smiley #048 - XDreamKillerX


	3. Note

**Sorry everyone, but this is not a chapter to my HOTD fanfic. :( This is a note.**

**I know I promised I was going to update last week, but I could not. Unfortunately my laptop is no longer working and this is the first time that I am able to get to a working computer. I'm not really sure when my laptop will get fixed or when I get a new one. And I have finals next week. I might be able to squeeze in a lightly chapter introducing about three or four of the ocs, but that's about it. **

**I will say that the first chapter is completed lol. I'm not sure how long it is, but I'm sure its over 2,000 words. I have really bad luck with technology... Within the past month, Kindle Fire stopped charging (lol), my phone freezes all the time( the screen stays black and there are times where people can't hear me over the phone) and my laptop was the most recent, it just randomly made a _click_ sound and shut off without any warning. **

**But aside from all of that, I had write all of my work that is why the first chapter still exists. So I hope that I am able to update within the next few days. :D**


	4. Survive the DEAD part one

**The rating went up from teen to mature. I felt that since this will eventually get much more bloody and filled with gore that the rating should get boosted up. The rating also went up because of language, so don't be surprised when you see profanity. Anyways, this is part of the first chapter. I didn't get to introduce all of the characters that I wanted. I'm sorry about the length! I'll make it is longer next time, I promise. And for the creators of the ocs that are in this chapter please message me if your oc is not in character and I will make sure that it will get fixed for the next chapter. Well I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

This was insane. The world had gone to shit. And this was hell on Earth. This, none of this should have been possible. The dead walked the streets and fed on the flesh of any living, moving thing. And where the hell was the military? Well like it mattered anyway, she was stuck in the music room with a black bass guitar in her hands.

Alexandra Grimm stood in shock. Stormy blue eyes rimmed with eyeliner watched the dead music teacher stagger towards her with its arms stretched out. She stood at five feet with a pale complexion. She had black hair styled into choppy, layers with bangs that covered her right eye and the tips of her hair were dyed purple. Alex had a small stud on the right side of her nose, snake bites on her bottom lip, and various piercings on each ear. She stood there mouth slightly parted and stared at the zombie that approached her.

"Alex!" The startled cry from behind her caused her to spring into action. She swung with all of her strength. The black bass guitar met the zombie's face. Blood gushed from the side of the man's head, a dark unnatural red with a putrid smell. And 'it' tumbled to the ground unceremoniously.

Small droplets of blood splattered onto Alex's face and the girl behind her squirmed. Alex glanced back at Ren Otonashi. Her light green eyes were filled to the brim with tears. Her light blonde hair was ruffled as if she had been tugging the locks franticly. She released a small sob with shudder. "And I thought the worst thing today would be that you're out of uniform," said Ren.

Alex remained silent. If the Headmaster had seen her black and white stripped tights and the black high top converse and white laces with the tops flared he would have surely given her a month's worth of detention. But most likely, the faculty members were all dead like her music teacher, except _they _might still be moving.

Ren suddenly grabbed Alex's arm with a small yelp. Alex sighed heavily at the sight of the crowd that filtered into the room. It was a crowd of them. Alex grabbed her skateboard and handed it to the girl behind her. She shouldn't have had that with her, but what did it matter now? No one was going to give a shit about the rules.

Alex glanced over her shoulder at Ren. "The least you could do is help."

* * *

Shin ran. His life depended on it. He had no weapon. And he was terrified. He would never say this out loud. But the light sheen of sweat on his forehead was a small indicator to stress. The one thing that ran through this mind: how was he going to survive?

He tripped. Shin landed on the ground with a crash. The dead slowly turned. He wasted no time. He got on his feet and was on the move again. He needed to find a weapon and fast. The good thing was 'they' were slow. He could out run them. But he couldn't keep it up forever.

"Good for nothing shit." He heard a voice and slowed. He glanced around curious.

Was someone other than him actually alive?

"Bitch ass - where the fuck… Never mind. Just die." A feminine voice. He heard a loud crunching sound followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground.

Shin felt a hand grab at the back of his neck. He cursed and sprang forward. He turned the corner in the hall and ducked. He was nearly struck in the face by a metal pole. The dead student behind him wasn't so lucky.

Shin watched the dead female student drop to the ground. He stared at the body for a moment. Shin remained in a crouched position. He could recognize the person, despite the collapsed left side of her skull. He had talked to her a few times.

He felt a slight nudge to his leg and sprang up. He glanced to the caramel haired girl beside him. Her hair was choppy and held in a ponytail. And she had large grey almond shaped eyes. "Dick." She glared at him slightly.

Damn she had a mouth.

"I nearly killed you." She said. Shin sighed and mumbled a small 'yeah'. He ran a shaky hand through his hair.

"Sayaka Okasaki." She said. Shin nodded. "Shin Takahashi." Her name was familiar. He had heard of her before, though not many people had called her by her name.

Sayaka wore the girl's uniform. The prestigious Zen Academy uniform was painted a dark, almost black, red along with both ends of the metal pole in her hands. She wore black tights instead of the normal knee high socks and -

"Hey," Shin glanced up with his eyes wide open. "Do you have a weapon?" Sayaka asked. He shook his head and turned away. A light blush dusted his cheeks.

He'd been caught. The other guys would have flown into hysterics. He had just checked out The Jerk. Not to mention she also had a black eye.

"I've been on the run," he said. He had finally composed himself. He glanced at the dead body on the ground before he focused on Sayaka. "Coward." She stated. Shin's eyes narrowed.

At least he had survived the initial outbreak so far…

* * *

Josh Frost was situated in the outfield. His least favorite spot. But it was one of the only sports that he liked.

He had black hair that was flipped to the right and covered the small scar on his cheek. His hair was shaggy but short and slightly longer in the front. Josh had an average build and had a fair complexion with a slight tan.

The metal fence, which was not that far behind him, shook. He glanced back curious.

His brown eyes caught the sight of a man. The man pulled at the fence. Josh stared in awe. And took a step forward. He wanted a closer look. A small 'wow' left his lips.

The make-up the man had on was remarkable. It was _very_ realistic. The man was missing the skin and muscle on the right side of his jaw; leaving his teeth visible. They were slight red in color. The grey skin and clouded white eyes captured Josh's attention. "FROST!" Josh glanced over his shoulder to the gym teacher.

The fence behind Josh shook a little violently. Josh glanced back at the fence.

"What the hell are you doing?!" The small blonde haired woman stalked past him. "DON'T move." She ordered.

A heavy sigh escaped Josh's lips. He had wanted a closer look. The 5k Zombie run was today and because of school he had missed out. This would have been his only chance to see the masterpiece of a complete fake zombie.

The small gym teacher had stormed over to the fence. She yelled. Her hands made strange movements in the air as she tried to get her point across. All the other students were paying attention now.

There was a sudden struggle at the gate. And then a scream. A horrible scream. A few student jumped forward to help Miss Reynolds. She shook her body and pulled away. She held her left arm out. And she continued to scream as she stared down at her arm. Miss Reynolds' hand was bleeding. And she was missing three of her fingers.

A few students behind Frost gasped and began whispering: 'Cannibal.' 'Maniac!' and 'Freak!' But the one that struck him the most was: 'Zombie.'

That one sounded right on the money.

A chill ran down his spine. He kicked himself into motion. He ran to the shed. A few students followed behind him. Some of the gym equipment was there. Josh grabbed a baseball bat, one that was half-wood and half-metal. This would work...


	5. Survive the DEAD part two

**Hello, everyone. Thanks for all of the reviews last chapter. I actually read all of them if any of you guys were wondering. Thanks for all the love and advice, I really appreciate it! So here is a new chapter. I didn't really proof read, I'll eventually get back to this and fix the mistakes. There are a lot of ocs I'm dealing with. And I like details. So the next chapter will be the final introduction chapter for ocs. As promised, this chapter is much more longer than the previous one, by like 1,400 words or something. They might get longer, I'm not to sure.**

**I recently started thinking about romantic interests and such with the OCs thanks to Gambit Hawk. If you want your oc paired with someone in particular let me know through pm. Romantic interests won't be final until all ocs are introduced.**

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. :)**

* * *

His dark brown eyes focused on the wide open door. No one stood on the other side. No guards. No scientists. This was the perfect chance. Maybe his only chance to leave. He remained seated. His mind raced with thoughts on the current situation.

Was this a test? Did they want him to leave?

If not, how would he get out. He only ever saw one section of the facility and from what he'd heard the other subjects say, it had to be bigger than he thought. Bishop stood from his position on the floor to his full height of 6'1". He approached the open door and glanced down the hall. He looked both ways before he decided on going left.

He turned the corner to find a small chestnut brown haired girl around 5'3" stealthy creeping along the wall and down the hallway.

"M." He called. The girl nearly jumped out of her skin and turned to him with her dark blue eyes wide like saucers. "I thought I was dead…" She mumbled. Bishop averted her gaze and offered an awkward sorry. "Where are you going?" He asked. M's eyebrows furrowed. "Have you seen Yori?" She asked.

A slight frown pulled at Bishop's lips. 037 was bad news. Why would she be looking for him?

M glanced at Bishop, one eyebrow raised as she waited for his answer. He simply shook his head. M turned back and continued down the hall with Bishop trailing behind her. He kept his distance. If the stories were true about 037 then the same could be true about M.

Every door that they passed was open and the rooms were vacant. The two hadn't spotted another single soul since they were freed.

M poked her head into a room and entered. Bishop slowly entered after her. "What is this?" She asked. Her light brown eyes stared at tall the strange buttons on a table. "One of the control rooms," Bishop mumbled. He stared at the glass above the controls. The room on the other side was dark. Maybe someone was still in there. Bishop could see his reflection in the glass. His short, buzz cut blonde hair and dark green eyes. He then glanced down.

Bishop stared at all of the controls. There was a small silver switch with the label light underneath. A small light shined red on the control board. He flipped the switch and watched the little light change from red to green.

A startled gasp escaped M's lips. Her hand tried to grab at Bishop's pale hand as she stepped back. Bishop flinched at the foreign contact and stepped away from the petite girl. He glanced at her, curious. Her eyes were wide with fear and filled to the brim with tears.

Bishop's gaze then shifted to the room on the other side of the glass. A breath of air escaped his lips. He hadn't realized he held his breath to begin with.

A young man, around their age, laid on an operating table. His light blue eyes were wide. They were focused on the ceiling. A milky glaze coated both of his eyes. His mouth was frozen open and twisted to the side. His skin pulled at an angle that wasn't normal. There were slight tears in his skin. Jagged little openings on his cheeks and neck. His body was cut open from his collarbone and down to a little below his stomach. And puddle of blood coated the white floor beneath the table.

M turned away with a shudder. "Let's get going." Bishop whispered.

* * *

Hawk left his room without so much as a glance back. He swiftly walked down the hall. His grey-blue colored eyes searched for an open door. He needed to find a way out.

_Bam! _The glass door beside him didn't budge. His eyes locked on the tall girl on the other side. She pounded on the glass as she screamed. Her dark green eyes begged him for help.

A faint smile came to her lips as Hawk's slightly tanned hands fumbled with the key pad. He could at least give it a try. What could he lose?

"Hey!" Hawk glanced over his shoulder to the holding cell behind him. A young boy with dark brown hair stared back at him. "Help me out too!" The young boy said. Hawk nodded his head. These were the first people that he saw since the doors opened. Why hadn't their's done the same?

He turned back to the key pad. "I'll try to get you out." Hawk said. The girl released a deep breath and then smiled. "Alli, my name… I think its Alli." "Hawk." He mumbled. His fingers ghosted over the keys. Each time he entered a code an error appeared on the screen and he cursed.

Alli suddenly coughed. Hawk glanced up and noticed that she was coughing harder. She doubled over and Hawk tried another code entry. His gaze then shifted to the boy's cell. He was coughing as well. Hawk helplessly watched as the two slowly crumbled to the ground. And then they remained still and silent.

Anger filled him and he marched down the hall. He would find them. Those damned scientists. He stalked passed two other subjects he recognized and continued on his way. He didn't know where he was going, but he was going to try and find _them_. Bishop and M followed after him.

Why the hell were the three of them chosen? Why couldn't everyone get set free?

"Hawk!" M called out to the dirty blonde haired male. She stalked behind him. "Hey, over here!" M glanced over her shoulder to see Bishop slip into a room. She turned her attention back to Hawk.

"Hawk!" She shouted. M pulled at his neck length shaggy, dirty blonde hair. "What?" He turned to face her with a scowl as a few strands of his hair fell into place over the right side of his face. M frowned. "If it helps, the same happened to us… we couldn't help the others either." She said.

Hawk scoffed. "I'm surprised you even tried." He left M and entered the room Bishop had entered. M remained in the hall and watched him leave.

Bishop glanced over his shoulder to Hawk. He awkwardly cleared his throat and focused on the computers around the room. "She really did try," Bishop said. "She tried to save them." "Just saying what I know I know from experience." Hawk replied.

Bishop noticed a flashing light on one of the monitors. Hesitantly a pushed the button that flashed and stared at the face that appeared on the large screen. "Ah, Bishop. It's wonderful to see that you are doing so _well_." The blonde haired woman said. Her dark brown eyes then shifted to Hawk.

"Jake," A small smirk lined her red painted lips as Hawk frowned. "Apologies 069, I hope I didn't upset you." Her dark brown eyes sparkled. "Hello, M."

Bishop and Hawk glanced to the small girl beside them. "Director?" M asked. The blonde haired woman smiled. "You remember, though I am sorry for my absence," She said. "Well you three have earned your freedom." Her long blonde hair framed her face beautifully and she sat in a black leather chair with her chin raise, her hands folded on the brown desk in front of her.

"And the rest?" Hawk asked.

A chuckle escaped the woman's lips. "Unfortunately, they were below minimum

Grade level to be set _free_. After so many years, wouldn't you like to be set free?" She said. The Director pulled at her beige colored suit jacket and dusted the non-existent debris from her right shoulder.

"This isn't some kind of deal," Bishop said with a scoffed. The Director smiled. "But isn't it? All of your friends left. Its either remain locked away or venture into the outside world." "I'll go." Hawk said quickly.

"Good! But the hell outside is _far_ worse than anything you've experienced within these walls." She said. Bishop shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he added. The Director laughed.

"And our _friends_?" M asked as she folded her arms over her chest. The blonde haired woman smiled. "Oh, they left without you three. So much for Yori looking out for you M, huh. I'll be in touch." She said with a smile. And then the video chat ended.

A surveillance video replaced the image of The Director and the three teens watched. A small group of three, subjects they recognized escaped above ground through a hatch, two females and a male. The first female to emerge had long red hair that passed her collarbone. That was CE…

The next was a scrawny looking girl with stark white hair. They had never seen her before. And then a male with black spiked hair was the last to leave. "Riku." Hawk said.

Everyone who survived had already left.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Bishop said.

* * *

Smiley chuckled at the wide open door. She shook her head. Her waist length frizzy black hair followed the slight frantic motion of her head.

The transparent walls in the simulation room flickered. A fall scenery of leaves falling from trees blinked into view every few seconds. It was broken. She couldn't even hear the fake birds chirp.

Her olive green eye spotted an imperfection in the floor. Her deathly pale boney hand grabbed at the edge of the soft floor and lifted the cover to the side.

"They hide things from me." She said to herself. She bit her lip and forced the metal trap door, that was hidden beneath the floor covers, open. She stared down the dark hole in awe. "Where do you go to? Wonderland?"

"Smiley." The girl of 5'8" turned to find a black haired male standing behind her. She avoided eye contact as he rolled his dark blue eyes. "My names Yori." He said. He crouched down to be eye-level with the girl.

"How 'bout we go together, hmm?" He asked. She scoffed.

Yori thought for a moment. He needed this girl on his side. He needed to play friends with her. Even though she might be crazy, he needed her loyalty. He knew others like her who were dedicated to protecting the ones they cared for.

Yori held out his hand to her. Smiley stared at the outstretched limb suspiciously. "We can go together." He said.

Smiley's eyebrows furrowed as she glanced back to the dark hole in the ground. "We… won't see." Yori nodded his head and offered a reassuring smile. "The scientists won't find us, we'll be okay."

Smiley thought for a moment. "…You go first." "Okay," He said.

Yori lowered himself into the tunnel and soon after Smiley followed. The tunnel was small and dark. The two had a hard time seeing and on several occasions Smiley bumped into Yori, causing her to keep a large distance between the them.

She followed the sound of his voice. She had to admit it relaxed her. She was finally able to hear someone else's voice other than her own or the scientists. Smiley suddenly shielded her eyes when they were assaulted by the sunlight.

"You did it, you found a way out!" A pair of arms engulfed her in a hug. Smiley awkwardly struck the assailant lightly on the back. She flailed. Yori placed her down on the ground. "Sorry," he said.

Smiley took in her surroundings and understood why he had gotten so excited. She wiped the at the tears that fell from her eyes. The sun shinned through the broken glass of the abandoned factory they were in and she smiled. She ran from beside Yori who had easily caught up with her. "Wait-" Yori closed the door Smiley had just opened. She glared. "What?" "-You need this." He held out a hand axe.

She stared down at the weapon curiously, then glanced up at the black haired male. He was taller than her by a good four inches. "Why?" She asked. And he shrugged. Yori wondered the same thing. But he had never asked The Director. That's why they liked him so much. He never asked about their motives, he never complained. He followed their orders blindly. If that woman said kill, he'd do it without a second thought.

"Don't know." He answered. Smiley took the weapon and pushed him away from the door. She stepped outside and released a shaky breath. Even now she felt used.

People with grey colored skin, limped and staggered around the street. "We have to kill them," said Yori. He'd remembered The Director had mentioned sickly looking people. "…I think they might eat us." He added.

* * *

_**Fifteen minutes before the outbreak…**_

"Reyes!" The burly math teacher bellowed. He pushed the bridge of his glasses further up his noised with one sausage finger. The black haired male turned to face the older man with an innocent look on his face. "Yeah?" Carlos asked. His onyx colored eyes continued to stare up at the ceiling. "Your homework!"

"Ah, its in my locker. I'll be back!" Carlos wasted no time in leaving the room. He ignored the math teacher's protest as he exited the classroom.

Carlos opened his locker and sifted through his bag and cursed. He had forgotten the paper at home. "Carlos," He turned to find Shea Sato behind him. "Skipping?" She asked. The fiery red haired girl smiled at him.

"That's a good idea." Carlos said. "I gotta see coach first, though." He added. Shea laughed. "You don't need to join a team, girls flock to you. I mean how could they resist your exotic look and body." She smirked and playfully smacked his arm. A confident smirk came to his lips at her joke. "Not when you're around, you scare them off. It's your bad reputation of being known as the international school w-" She smacked his arm hard.

"Hey!" He complained. She raised her fist jokingly. "Lucky it wasn't a punch." Shea pulled at the sleeves of her black cardigan that reached the hem of her skirt, she adjust the undone yellow ribbon around her neck and brushed a hand along her pale cheek that was dusted with light freckles.

"By the way, Happy Late Birthday, there's a clown in front of the school for you. I'm sure he'll make you one of those balloon things. That's your birthday gift." Shea said.

Carlos shot her a glare. "You'd better be joking." Her dark brown almond shaped eyes sparkled with humor. "You'd have to check for yourself." Carlos sighed. "Well I'm going to see Coach Okumura." He said. She nodded her head and followed after him. "Its not like I have anything better to do." Carlos sighed and playfully frowned. "You'll scare all the pretty girls away."

Shea responded with a quick kick to his Shin. He cursed. And grabbed the wounded leg. Carlos went to open the door to go outside before it was pulled open from the other side. A few students pushed passed him, disorientated and frantic. She glanced down the hall worried when she noticed a few of them bleeding from wounds on their legs and arms. Bite marks.

Her eyes widened a fraction from the observation. Bite marks.

"Foreigner," Carlos' eyes locked with hers. "Maybe we shouldn't go outside." She suggested. "We are both foreigners." He said. "I'm more Japanese than you." She retorted.

Another person flew through the door, gasping for air. "Josh?" Carlos asked. "What-" "Not the time!" He said frantically. Carlos noticed the blood stains that covered Josh's clothes. And the baseball bat in his hand. Carlos took a slight steep in front of Shea and his eyes narrowed.

Shea tried to see past the lightly tanned boys height 6'1". Sure she was around 5'8", a good few inches shorter, but she wanted to see.

"Zombies man… We got to get out of here." Josh said.

The bite marks made sense now. "He's right." Shea said. Carlos glanced back to her. "Some of the students were bitten." She added.

Shea spotted a broken desk in the corner of the hall. She shook the table and watched it wobble before collapsing to the ground. She grabbed a desk leg and turned to the two guys. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped short when the sound of metal being dragged filled the air.

Josh slowly turned and faced the dead student that approached. It dragged a metal baseball bat along the linoleum floor and staggered in Shea's direction beside the broken desk.

"That was quick." Josh said. The male student in a baseball uniform moaned and then changed direction. It turned to Josh. He swung and hit the dead student in the side of the head. The body spun to the side before collapsing to the ground.

Carlos picked up the bat the zombie had dropped. "And remember," Shea and Carlos turned to Josh. "Aim for the head."


	6. Note 2

**Sorry everyone, but this is not a chapter to my HOTD fanfic. :( This is a note... again. **

**I wasn't able to update the past few days. For those of you that are wondering whether or not I got my laptop fixed, the answer is no. XD**

**The laptop that I used to update the last chapter was my brothers. And surprise, surprise that one broke as well... He blames me for that considering my bad luck with technology. **

**Right now, I'm using his net book (which he's upset about lol). **

**But anyways, I just started school again... And I'm taking Calculus, yeah! No, I'm really going to die. It's a six week course. Our grades are based on two exams and a final! Wtf... And did I mention, I can't use a calculator... And I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to math. LOL**

**Yeah so, I want to focus on Calc which means that updates will be extremely _slow._ I'm not sure on whether or not you guys would like small updates about 1,500 words or less or a huge update (that would take some time) like the last chapter. **

**I just wanted to update you all on what was going on! Sorry! Anyways I hope you guys all have a great summer!**


	7. Survive the DEAD part three

**Hey everyone, I'm back! Well my summer session is now over and I am free for about another month or so before school starts up again. So you guys can except updates weekly. I'll try to crank out chapters as fast as I can. Oh and if you guys have any ideas shoot them my way and I'll take them into consideration. So in this chapter rest of the ocs have been introduced. For romantic interests/pairings let me know in a pm who you would like your oc to be paired with and give to choices please, just in case your oc can't be with the first choice. Anyways, I'm dealing with about twenty ocs here as well as other characters, minor ones, like the Director. Future chapters should be about the length of this chapter. Well thanks for waiting for this update. And my inspiration for this story, along with all of the great reviews is the song Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. I first heard the song when my friend showed me this video for a zombie race. I mentioned it briefly before and in this chapter as well. The link for the video will be on my profile if anyone wants to check it out. And I hope you all enjoy this chapter! **

* * *

A light sweat covered Nero's pale forehead. A breath of air passed his lips. He held a defensive stance. His feet were placed firmly on the ground with his hands slightly opened in a relaxed state. Nero's hazel eyes were accented by a gold ring around each pupil. And they stared hard at the blonde haired man in front of him.

Nero wouldn't chance a glance to the side. Not even if he heard another subject being beaten to death. It wasn't like he could do something to begin with, but he would be punished as well.

The blonde haired man with dark brown eyes stepped towards Nero. The guard held an English long-sword in his grasp. He swung the blade in the air and aimed for the dark brown haired teen. Nero side stepped the attack and moved closer. He punched at the man's abdomen. And then ducked another attack.

The guard swung the sword down. Nero rolled to the side. He swept his foot beneath the man's legs successful knocking him down. Nero's lean and muscular body aided him greatly in his battles. Not only did he have strength, but he had the speed to retreat and attack quickly.

The guard rose to his feet. And Nero was on him once again. His fist connected with the man's jaw. The guard stumbled. He pressed a hand to his lips. The raw metallic taste of blood flooded the man's senses. And his brown eyes darkened. "God damn brat." The guard growled.

The guard swung his sword at Nero's neck. Nero stepped back and avoided the tip of the blade by a few inches. Then he moved forward. The guard pulled his sword back and aimed for Nero. The teen blocked his arm and stopped the sword from reaching him.

His fist struck the man in the side of the head with his right elbow. He then landed a blow with his left fist to the man's temple. Nero stopped his assault short once he heard metal clatter against the floor. He stepped back and allowed the man to breathe.

A small woman with short brown hair approached the two. She had watched from the side lines. "You passed," She said. He gaze shifted to Nero then to the clipboard in her grasp. She jotted down a few notes before slipped her pen into the pocket of her white lab coat. Her dull grey eyes regarded him once more. "Your next exam is in six weeks. Be ready." She then turned and moved onto another group. "Yeah," Nero mumbled.

The guard pushed Nero to the side and retrieved his fallen sword. "Back to your cell." The man growled at Nero, before sheathing his weapon.

An alarm sounded throughout the room. Everyone froze. And then there was silence.

"Alright, everyone back to your cells!" A voice boomed. The rest of the subjects in the room shuffled through the open door that was flanked by two guards.

"616," Nero turned his head towards the scientist from before. She called him forward with a gesture of her hand. "This way." She held a door open with her back pressed lightly against it.

His eyes traveled back to the other subjects that were being escorted in another direction. His eyebrows furrowed.

He didn't remember the sound of the alarm. He'd never heard of an alarm in the facility that sounded that way to begin with. It was an unnatural buzzing sound. The others knew what it meant, so why didn't he?

The guard from earlier pushed him forward. "Move." He mumbled.

Nero took a small step forward before he turned. He kicked the guard's knee cap from the side with all of his strength. The guard released a painful scream. And he fell to the ground. The woman gasped. She released the door she was holding and reached into her lab coat pocket.

Nero had proceeded to strike the man in the temple, knocking him unconscious. Nero removed the traditional English long sword from the man's possession. Another guard approached with a dagger. Nero's gaze flickered to the badge at on the man's chest. It read his last name: _H. White_. White charged at Nero.

The teen swung the blade in his grasp in a horizontal motion. Metal met flesh, tearing open a clean wound on White's neck. Blood spewed into the air, a few drops landed on Nero's white uniform, and White collapsed to the ground. A flicker of movement at the corner of Nero's eye caught his attention. He turned struck the sword down. The female scientist's hand fell to the ground. A shrill wail escaped her lips. Nero glanced down to her detached limb. Her manicured nails were stained a blood red and her fingers were clasped around a syringe.

The woman cradled her severed wrist as she sobbed. Her grey eyes were focused on the pool of blood beneath her. Nero focused his attention back on her and swung the blade down on her skull.

The woman's grey eyes were wide. She was frozen. Nero placed his foot against her chest and pushed. The sword came free. And her corpse fell back against the soft white floor. Nero turned and noticed the guard that was once unconscious trying to drag himself away.

Nero approached the man in a few steps. His height of 5'11" allowed him to catch up easily. Nero swung the sword at an angle. The guard's body dropped. And his head rolled off to the side.

Nero ran a hand through his dark brown, almost black hair; it fell straight down to the back of his neck where it was messily cut off. And then his hazel eyes focused on the open door.

A small scoff escaped his lips. "Finally."

* * *

Riku thought it was by sheer luck that his door had opened. And then he hadn't felt so lucky. For some reason the damned people of the facility wanted to off him. His dark purple eyes glared at the guard blocking the door.

They kidnapped him. Ripped him away from his family when he was only ten. Then they brought him here and abused him when he didn't listen. And now they wanted him dead seven years later?

Riku stood from his seat on the thin white covered mattress. He stepped forward. An outright display of defiance. He pressed his lips firmly together. And the guard raised his weapon, a Beretta 92FS, at the teenage boy.

"Go ahead do it." Riku said. He was only a few inches shorter than the man before him. Riku stood at 5'9" and had a slender build, but he still had the slightest hints of an athletic body.

The guard muttered something beneath his breath. He was responding to the voice in his ear piece. And a conflicted expression flickered over his features. Riku's pale fist clenched beside him. He stepped forward quickly and the guard cursed. Riku's fist connected with the man's tan neck. The guard chocked. His hold on the gun dropped as his hands delicately held his throat. He gasped for air. And his face changed shades. Riku's fist hit the man's temple twice before he fell unconscious.

A heavy sigh escaped Riku's lips. He grabbed the black semi-automatic hand gun off the ground. His purple eyes inspected the weapon. He judged it for a moment. And then came to the decision that he liked the weight and feel of the gun. Riku searched the guard for extra ammo and tucked the extra magazines into his pocket. He then stepped over the body and glanced down the hall. He held the Beretta tightly in his grasp beside him.

He moved down the hall in silence. He passed holding cells. Some of them were opened and covered in blood. And filled with the corpses of other experiments. Riku wondered if the same fate was meant for him.

Riku heard a pair of feet dart across the white linoleum floor and turn the corner. He raised his weapon the moment he came face to face with the person. A small gasp escaped the girl's lips. "God," Riku breathed and lowered his weapon. The small girl smiled up at him. "Relax." She said. Riku's handsome face relaxed and returned to the usual bored expression he carried. "I nearly killed you, Hope."

The stark white haired girl's smile twisted slightly into a smirk. "I haven't died yet. I don't think that can kill me." Her tanned hand gestured to the weapon in his hand.

"You don't even know the limitations of accelerated healing." He stated. She shrugged. Her light brown eyes glanced down the hall she came from. "Well, it doesn't matter. As far as I know there are no limitations."

Riku moved to enter the hall that Hope had just left from. She placed a hand on his arm stopping him. He glanced at her curiously. "There is no way out down there. A few other halls. Its a maze. 616 is having a blast though. Good luck getting past him." Hope ruffled Riku's black spiked hair.

"Alright," He turned towards the other hall. "By the way, do you ever sleep?" Hope asked. She noticed the bags under his eyes. Riku nodded his head. The two moved forward down the hall. The two checked a few rooms and found no exit. They either found nothing at all or a dead body.

Riku glanced at Hope. "Do you have a weapon?" He asked. He should have asked earlier. But he hadn't thought of it before. And to his surprise she nodded. "Well?" He questioned. "What is it?" Hope smiled at him. "My charm." She whispered. A small chuckle escaped her lips as a frustrated groan escaped Riku.

"It was a joke." She added. Hope reached into her sleeve with her fingers and withdrew a dagger. "Not the best, but its all I got."

* * *

Luna Sanders released a frustrated grumble. Her yellow eyes glared down at the pencil markings on her white sheet of paper.

She didn't want to be her. Not today, especially in Art class. She was in a bad mood. Luna's elbow nudged a small blue hand held sharpener closer to the edge of the table. She muttered a few incoherent words under her breath. "Do this Luna." She parroted in a whisper. Her gaze shifted to the old man in the room. He was hunched over beside another student trying to help them. And no doubt he was offering useless advice.

The cell phone in her lap buzzed. Her fingers ghosted across the cool glass of the phone. Her gaze shifted to the screen of the small black device. "Luna," She glanced up momentarily from her phone to the teen seated across from her. He had short to medium length curly brown hair, brown eyes and an olive brown complexion. "Mr. Clark isn't that bad." He said. Luna made a face.

"Yeah, but he doesn't like me Phil." She said. And Phil smiled. "He has high expectations. We might not become the next Picasso. But he sure as hell hopes so." A small laugh escaped Luna's lips at his words. She tucked a strand of her midnight black hair behind her ear and glanced back down at her phone. "Kyou would have better luck with being the next Picasso." Luna said.

She opened the text message and smiled. Luna's friend, Fen, was dressed in her black school uniform with her green neck tie undone. Dirt and fake blood covered her body. And she had white contacts on. Her dark brown hair which was usually styled into a bun had nearly fallen. Bobby-pins were out of place and her hair was down in some spots. Luna chuckled. She was dressed as a zombie.

"Look at Fen," Luna passed the phone to Phil. A faint smile came to his lips. If it wasn't for the dorky smile and the peace sign Fen had up, the zombie look would have been more in character. And more real. Phil handed the phone back.

"Hey guys," A voice said. Phil and Luna glanced to the boy that had joined their table. He had scruffy black hair. "Wow Kyou, that's a new record. There's only fifteen minutes of class left." Phil said.

Kyou sighed. He sat beside Phil and placed the dark blue duffle bag onto the ground between their respective chairs. He slouched into his seat and picked up a pencil. A small smirk came Kyou's lips. He glanced to the snow white haired old man. "And he didn't even notice." Phil said.

"For all he knows you were in the bathroom." Luna supplied. Kyou chuckled. "I have a weak bladder now, huh?" He asked. Luna scoffed. "At least I'm not the one who's always late to class."

Phil tapped the duffle bag with foot. "Practice?" He asked. He had noticed the end of a black metal baseball bat sticking out of the opening of the duffle bag. Kyou nodded. "Yeah I just started playing for the Ibaraki Team. I nearly forgot it this morning." He said. His hand brushed at the eraser shavings on the fabric of his unbuttoned school uniform.

A loud noise startled a few students into turning their attention to Luna. A few curses left her lips. The little blue pencil sharpener had clattered to the floor and spilled its contents. "Sanders!" Luna feared the worst. Mr. Clark had heard her string of profanities. "Clean up that mess; the broom is in the closet." He said and pointed to a door behind a desk. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. "You got lucky," Kyou said with a smirk. She smiled. "Yeah and its all thanks to that." She said. And pointed to the faded red string around his wrist before leaving.

"You believe in that sort of thing, luck?" Phil asked. Kyou nodded his head. "Yeah, I haven't flunked out of school yet." He said. Phil chuckled. " Yeah, like that would ever happen. You hang around all the smart kids that spend their time studying." Phil said. Kyou laughed. "Really? From what I recall we are all still _kids,_ none of us have hit twenty yet." Kyou said.

A couple of students stumbled into the classroom. They were covered in blood and dirt. A few students glanced at the fellow students that entered the room, others weren't interested in them at all to even notice their presence. Phil stood to his full height of 6'4" and moved to the storage closet that Luna had disappeared into. Startled by his sudden actions and lack of reaction from his name being called, Kyou rose from his seat and followed Phil. Luna emerged from the closet with a wooden broom in her grasp. "Did I take long?" She asked. The three teens glanced at Mr. Clark.

"Hey, are you alright?" Mr. Clark asked. He placed a hand on the sickly looking boy's shoulder and gave him a good shake. The man's sudden cry of pain sent the rest of the students into a frenzy. The boy had latched his teeth into the man's arm. Blood sprayed into the air and Phil cursed. "Kyou, your bag!" Phil said. Luna was rooted to the ground. Her eyes large. A scream nearly left her lips. Phil covered her mouth and told her to relax.

Kyou returned with duffle bag over his shoulder and the metal bat in his hand. A girl across the room screamed. She had climbed onto the counter and onto a few shelves mounted onto the wall. A few of them were in the process of trying to make a grab at her. A few hands ghosted at he ankles. A small cry left her lips. And tears fell from her light green eyes.

The three teens sprang into action. Kyou swung his bat at a few 'them' that blocked his path. And Luna did the same trying to leave a path open for Phil to get to their fellow classmate.

The girl on the shelf trembled. Her gaze focused on a pair of scissors a shelf below the one she stood on. A grey hand nearly tugged her foot down. And the dirty blonde haired girl panicked. She kicked her foot out. Her shoe met 'its' face knocking it down to the ground with a crash. Her hand quickly grabbed at the scissors. Phil approached the counter she stood above and motioned her to come down.

Her eyes nearly bugged out when the zombie girl she had kicked down twitched. Phil's foot kicked out. It's head slammed against the edge of the cabinet door hard. And blood slowly pooled from the wound. Satisfied the girl descended from her shelves and stood beside Phil.

An exhausted sigh escaped Luna. "Blair, right?" She asked. The blonde haired girl nodded. A few bodies on the ground twitched. "We need to move." Phil said.

"And exactly where are we going?" Blair asked. "First, my locker." Phil said. "And then the bathroom," Kyou joked.

* * *

CE bounced down the hall in skips. A huge smile was plastered on her face. And amethyst colored eyes sparkled with excitement. She wouldn't let the facility and its moody staff bring her mood down. Not today. Today was the day the doors opened. And no guards were present. She was glad.

Her wavy collarbone length red hair was fashioned into a ponytail and it bounced back and forth with each skip of her feet. Her slender body rounded the corner and she was greeted by two familiar people. "Riku and Hope!" She beamed. Riku glanced over his shoulder unsurprised by her presence. He heard her coming. Her skips had alerted him to her approach. Hope on the other hand wasn't prepared.

"For the love of- ugh!" She had jumped. "CE missed you guys." The red haired girl gushed. Riku nodded his head as Hope continued her search for an open door. "Wow, what's that?" CE asked excitedly. She pointed to the metal gun in his hand. Riku placed a finger to his lips. The teenage girl quieted and awaited his explanation. "It's a gun, it protects us." CE held her hand out, silently requesting the weapon. Her fair skin was decorated with freckles that seemed to cover her body from the small amount of skin that was visible. Riku shook his head. "This hurts people. Do you want to hurt someone?" He asked softly.

CE stuck her arm behind her back. And she shook her head. "What are you guys looking for?" She asked. "A door to go outside." Hope stated. CE clapped excitedly at the thought. "CE will help!" Riku softly shushed the girl. "But we have to be quiet." CE covered her lips and smiled. After checking a few doors and turning down a few halls the three teens had stopped for a break.

"Why is this so difficult?" Hope asked. Riku shrugged. "We'll find a way out." CE softly hummed to herself and spun in a circle a few times. She titled her head back and gasped. "There's a door on the ceiling!"

"Haha, nice joke CE." Hope grumbled. She sank down onto the ground with a huff. CE tugged at Riku's sleeve and jumped with her finger pointed towards the ceiling. "A door! There is a door!" Riku's eyes traveled up. And there in fact was a door on the ceiling. To be more precise a hatch. "Well look at that." He mumbled. "There's a door on the ceiling.

"Who's going first?" Hope asked. The other two teens stared at her expectantly. And she frowned. "Well, thanks."


	8. DEAD Walking

**If you guys have any ideas send them in a pm and I'd gladly read them. Enjoy!**

* * *

Alex and Ren safely made their way out of the school building whilst bashing in a few undead heads. The two girls made it to the edge of the school property, a high black metal fence.

Ren fidgeted. And her fingers pulled at the edge of her skirt. She nervously glanced around, her other hand gripped Alex's skateboard tightly. Ren's gaze shifted to the pointed end of the black fence. And a small frown pulled at her lips.

"HOW are we supposed to get over that?" She asked. Alex gave a small shrug. "Well I thought I'd give you a boost over. But if you want to try the front gate, go right ahead." Alex said sarcastically. Ren gave a small sigh and placed the skateboard on the soft green grass.

Alex moved in front of the fence and held her hands down in front of her. Ren ran towards Alex ready to jump. And then she stopped. "Wait!" Ren exclaimed. "How do-" "Just like in the games!" Alex replied irritated. "W-What game?" Ren asked. She moved back a few paces. "Forget it." Alex mumbled.

Ren tried a second time. She ran at Alex and jumped. One foot planted in Alex's waiting hands and pushed her into the air. Ren's hand gripped at a small arrow pointed bar. A slight searing pain sprang to life in the palm of her left hand. And the sound of ripping fabric filled the air.

Ren landed on the other side of the fence and stumbled. She brushed her blooded hand onto her skirt. She glanced over her shoulder. A small gasp escaped her lips. There was a large tear in the back of her skirt. A split that ran up to her hip. And the fabric of her light blue lace underwear was clearly visible.

Alex chuckled. "Nice jump." She said. Ren sent Alex a small glare. "At least there are no guys around." Ren mumbled. Alex passed the skateboard and her bass guitar between the bars to Ren and jogged to a large tree near the fence.

Alex climbed the tree and turned. She looked down at Ren who stared back up at her. Ren's eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Be careful!" She hissed. Alex rolled her eyes. And shifted slightly. "Yeah, just don't get eaten while I'm- Ah!" Alex's foot slipped. And she crashed to the ground.

Ren slammed down into the ground with a startled cry. And remained unmoving for a small amount of time. Alex had landed on the girl and quickly rose. She helped Ren to her feet and berated her. "Why were you standing so close?" She hissed.

"F-For that exact s-same reason," Ren said. Alex's head snapped to the side at the sound of rustling. A male student emerged from the bushes. And a sigh escaped his lips. His grip on the fire truck colored wrench slacked. A sigh of relief escaped the two girl's as well.

They had found someone else, finally. His short light brown hair had been tossed around messily from running and a few blood stains covered his once pristine uniform. "We need to move and quick, 'they' will be here soon," He said. Introductions were quickly exchanged and Shin smiled at the two girl.

Ren and Alex moved forward in front of Shin. A small gasp escaped Shin's lips and he slapped a hand over his face. His face changed to a slight shade of red. Ren turned curious.

She was perplexed at first. But when she saw the light trail of blood that slipped past between Shin's fingers and his averted gaze she glanced down at herself. Alex covered Ren's mouth with her hand before an embarrassed scream could pass her lips.

"Calm down!" Alex said. "And you," she pointed to Shin. "Turn around and keep an eye out!"

* * *

Tears streamed down her face as she silently sobbed. Her vision blurred. And her steps became unstable. She wobbled too and fro with her head hung low.

Fen rubbed at her eyes and the white contacts fell onto her cheeks. She brushed the thin plastic away with her hands. Her vision cleared and dark brown eyes glanced around.

All hell had broken loose. And now she didn't know what to do, where to go. The thought of fighting for her life came to mind… even taking her own life didn't seem like a bad option. And then she thought of her family. Her tears spilled faster.

They must have been eaten already. Morbid thoughts continued to race through her mind. And still she pushed forward.

* * *

A small growl escaped Sayaka's lips. Those things were everywhere. And the school was getting far to crowded with the dead. They stumbled down every hall or they just stood, slightly slouched, heads back with their milky white eyes unfocused on the ceiling.

"Really!" She softly exclaimed. Her gaze focused outside the window on the main gate. It was flooded with students… both living and dead. A complete blood bath. Screams filled the air and blood sprayed in every direction.

Sayaka's eyes darted across the crowd. Her face expressionless. She recognized a few people. Like the busty blonde haired chemistry teacher, Ms. Howe. And a few other students that were nothing but trouble.

As the living fell the dead soon rose in their place. Sayaka knew better than to try and help. Her thoughts drifted to her previous companion, Shin. She wondered if he was still alive. They had been separated by a group of them. Her thoughts returned to the crowd outside. She couldn't do anything for them. She'd just end up getting herself killed. With one last glance outside, she turned away and her grip on the metal pole in her hand tightened. She wasted no time in making her way to the back of the school and outside.

Her grey eyes paid close attention for any movement as she jogged to the edge of the school campus. Her brow furrowed and she came to a stop. A curious look covered her features and her eyebrows knitted in wonder. The small gate at the back of the school was left wide open. Only the Headmaster and Head Janitor had a key for this gate. It was never open.

Sayaka approached the gate. And her fingers touched a wet substances on the black bars. Sayaka pulled her hand back and stared at the fresh blood on the tips of her fingers.

* * *

"Where are we going exactly?" Shea asked. She followed behind Carlos and Josh. They were silent until Shea had voice her question. Carlos shushed her. And Josh snickered. "To the Headmaster's office." Josh whispered.

Shea scoffed. "What are we going there for? That old fart is probably dead already. Or he tried to escape," Shea said. "Come to think of it, he didn't even issue a state of emergency or whatever." A bitter smile pulled Carlos' lips. "I never noticed." He replied.

The three found the Headmaster's office within a short amount of time. They quietly passed a the dead that lingered in the hall and made their way to the door. A large blood stain covered the other side of the glass.

Shea placed her hand on the door knob. "Be ready." She said. Her two companions nodded. Shea opened the door and the two males pushed into the office, weapons raised. She followed in after them and shut the door softly behind her.

Two undead figures turned and faced them. The white haired old man with gray skin stumbled forward. He had a gaping hole in his neck. A large chunk of the flesh missing. And the woman, his secretary, had blood around her lips. Blood stained her chin and torn pink blouse.

Shea swung the desk leg at the woman's head knocking her into the dead Headmaster. Both zombies stumbled. And the woman righted herself. Josh moved to the side and allowed Shea more room. "Hit it harder." He mumbled.

With a frustrated grumble. She whacked the secretary in the head again. A strange moan passed her lips. Then, the body finally dropped and remained unmoving.

The corpse of the Headmaster stumbled towards them arm's stretched out. Carlos swung the metal bat in his hand. The end of the weapon struck the man on the crown of his head. And his body too, mad a strange groan, before collapsing to the beige carpeted floor.

"Alright, who's going to check the dead body?" Carlos asked. Shea raised an eyebrow curiously. "For what?" She asked. "His keys," Carlos said in obvious tone. Josh busied himself with searching through the man's desk drawers. Trying to find anything that might be of use. He pocketed a small package of band-aids and a flash light.

Shea scoffed. "Go ahead Carlos, I'll watch the door." Carlos huffed and turned to the corpse on the ground.

Carlos hesitantly pulled the set of key's from the dead man's pocket. His eyes shifted to man's contorted face a few times. He feared that the Headmaster would turn and take a good ol' bite out of his arm or neck.

Carlos rose to his feet, removed the small golden key from the large ring, and slipped it into his pocket.

"Alight, let's go." Shea said. She opened the door and the three teens moved into the hall. And halted in their steps. They came face to face with four other students. Each one of them had a weapon. The boy in front had medium length curly brown hair and held a fencing sword in his hand.

"You guys made quite a bit of noise in their," He said. "By the way, my names Phil." She offered a slight wary smile. "Shea," She said simply.

Phil nodded his head. He glanced at everyone for a moment. Their numbers were rising. The team was getting larger. Lane had mentioned this to him before. Things would become safer with others around. They could protect each other instead of just themselves. They wouldn't have to worry about becoming insane in this messed up world so quickly.

"We were just leaving," Shea added. "We should all head out together, no?" Phil nodded his head. "Sounds good. There's strength in numbers." He said. They wouldn't be overrun so quickly if they moved in a large group. The only downside might be the team moving slow.

They had made it outside without much trouble. A few students ran passed them screaming. They were headed for the main gate. The only other way out of the school. A group of zombies tried to follow the fleeing students.

A sudden cough escaped Blair's lips. The other teens turned to her. And 'they' turned as well. A light blush flushed her cheeks. "Sorry I-I have a cold." She mumbled with a sniffle. She placed a hand over her mouth. And her eyes widened. Blair hadn't realized that 'they' were standing so close.

Kyou scrambled for his duffle bag and pulled a fencing mask from the bottom. He passed it to Phil who placed it over his head. And Luna pouted. "I need one." She mumbled.

The zombies staggered forward and held their arms out. Phil sprang forward with his companions. They fought together in teams of twos or threes. And easily took down the zombies that had blocked their path.

A startled cry of pain escaped Blair's lips. On of 'them' had latched onto her wrist. Blood squirted into the air. Phil and the other's turned startled. "Blair!" He yelled. And charged forward. The tip of his fencing sword struck the zombie in the side of the head. 'It' released it's hold on Blair's wrist and dropped to the floor.

Phil's eyes met Blair's and a bitter smile came to her lips. Everyone stared for a moment speechless.

"It's going to happen, right?" She asked. And no one answered. She glanced around . Luna softly bit her lip and glanced away. "Right?!" Blair asked again. She was becoming hysterical. Tears streamed down her face.

"It was my own fault," She said. If she hadn't coughed 'they' wouldn't have noticed them. "It's not." Phil said. And Blair nodded her head. "Yeah it is. Thank god it wasn't any of you that got this." She added and raised her wrist.

She glanced around, before baking away from them. Josh reached out and grabbed her wrist and pulled back. Josh's hand shook and Blair winced. Josh clenched his hand into a fist. He had grabbed at Blair's wound on accident. "Sorry." Josh mumbled.

Blair wrapped her arms around herself. And she trembled. "I don't want to be like one of them. Just kill me, please."

Everyone glanced around at each other. "I'll do it," Carlos said. He stepped forward and Blair offered a bitter smile.

* * *

Smiley growled in frustration. Yori had disappeared in the middle of battle. The tip of the hand axe in her hand connected with the head of a zombie. Blood sprayed and Smiley turned. A frown pulled at her lips. A man cowered behind a car with his arms raised.

"Help me!" The man exclaimed. She offered him a crazed look and then screamed. "Help yourself!" She stomped past him.

Smiley thought of the moment when she'd see Yori again. She'd tear him to shreds. His 'let's stick together act' was a bunch of shit and she should have known. And now she was alone. Sure she didn't mind being alone, but it was nice strange feeling to have. It had given her a small amount of hope.

And then the asshole just upped and left when she had her back turned in the middle of a fight. A bitter smile pulled at her lips. Or her had been dragged off and eaten alive by the funny looking people.

Smiley continued walking forward and spotted a large group of teens crossing the street. She stopped in her tracks and tilted her head to the side curiously. "Other people? Where are they going? Why the hell do they look the same?" She asked herself. And a gasp escaped her lips. "Like us?"

What appeared to be a smile pulled at her lips. And she wondered if these 'experiments' would leave her in the dust too.

Smiley ran in the direction she had seen them going. And the man that had been cowering behind the car followed after her. "Hey!" Smiley glance over her shoulder. The man from before continued to beg.

"Please, please! Help me!" He begged. He fell to his knees before her and sobbed. Smiley stared at him awkwardly. And she fidgeted. The dead would be here soon. And this man wouldn't leave her alone. "Please." He begged. Smiley avoided his gaze and hopped from foot to foot. She wanted to leave and quick. The thought of killing him crossed her mind for a brief second. "F-Fine, but don't get to close to me!" She exclaimed. "My names Takeda." Smiley rolled her eyes and turned away. "I'm Smiley." She said over her shoulder.

* * *

Hawk and Bishop stared down at the weapons they had acquired at the facility. A pair of metal escirma sticks for Hawk and an M4 semi-auto assault rifle. Sure enough, the Director spat crap about the 'normal' world having a hell far worse than their's and it was true. The dead walked the streets.

And out of all the times in the world. M had ran off because she spotted Yori on another street. Hawk scoffed. Sure, he worried about her. But he hated the fact that she was being selfish.

He just hoped he'd see her again before Yori put her six feet under. No one trusted that guy and neither should she. But she never listened. M was far to stubborn to pay any mind to Hawk's warning. She had yelled at him and Bishop for getting into her business. And that had a nasty consequence. The dead crowded them. And they had to fight their way out.

Hawk liked his lips and pushed forward down the street. "We need to get supplies. And find a place to rest for the night before it gets too dark." Hawk said. Bishop silently nodded his head and followed Hawk.

The two filtered into an abandoned corner store. The door was left open and a radio filtered traditional music through the speakers. Bishop passed the counter towards the back and looked through the glass of the refrigerators. He didn't really know what these things were. Sure they looked familiar, but it had been so long.

Hawk's gaze shifted to the front of the counter. And he touched one of the candy bars. A strange sound pulled his attention and he glanced up. His eyes widened. Bang! Hawk dived to the side and crashed to the ground.

Bishop turned and fired his weapon. A single bullet pierced the man's head behind the counter. The older man dropped his shot gun and his wide open eyes stared up at the ceiling. Bishop moved to Hawk's side and pulled at the teen's arm. "Are you alright?" Bishop asked.

Hawk nodded his head and a groan filtered passed his lips. He stood up and touched the shell fragments embedded in his neck. His fingers dug into his neck and pulled the fragments free. The wound slowly stitched itself back together. And Hawk glanced over the counter at the dead man.

"What the fuck?" Hawk and Bishop turned to find a girl with caramel brown hair staring at them in shock. She held a metal pole in her hand. And by the expression on her face she had just witnessed everything.

* * *

"M? What are you doing?" Yori asked. The chestnut haired girl shrugged. She fiddled with the crossbow in her arms. "We need to find some place to stay." Yori said. M quietly nodded her head. The duo stopped when they noticed a teen waving at them.

The light brown haired boy ran toward them slightly out of breath. "Are you guys from the school too?" He asked. Yori's lips tugged slightly and pursed her lips. She was about to tell him no until Yori butted in. "Yeah, we just got out. This is my girlfriend." M gave him a strange look. And the strange teen nodded his head, before glancing away.

M stomped on Yori's toes. He gave a small yelp. And she glared at him. M turned to the other boy and asked for his name. "Shin." He replied with a smile. "Alex, Ren, I found some other students." Shin called happily.

Yori glanced at M and offered her a reassuring smile. His gaze then shifted to Shin and his eyes darkened along with his mood. M glanced Yori cautiously with her eyebrows furrowed. And then her worried gaze drifted to Shin.


	9. Drop DEAD

**Hey, everyone. So this chapter is slightly shorter, sorry about that. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Hope danced across the street. A strange smile lined her lips. And a crazed look had filled her gaze. The dagger in her hand spun into the dead that lingered in the streets. She didn't mind that corpses walked the street. She enjoyed the fact that they did. It gave her the excuse to kill. And Riku simply watched her ram the end of her dagger into countless of heads. A small sadistic smirk came to his lips at the spray of blood. CE watched uninterested in the whole fiasco. She held an M27 Infantry automatic rifle in her hands. Though she only used it when one of 'them' came too close.

CE followed a few paces behind Hope along side Riku. A zombie drifted to close to them from behind and Riku fired a shot at the zombies head. CE approached Hope to close from behind and nearly missed the swipe of the white haired girl's dagger at her face. CE pulled to the side out of reach. A frown pulled at her lips. Hope gave a small smirk as Riku approached them, clearly upset. Riku gave Hope a forceful shove. "Watch it. I know your having fun, but keep an eye out." He growled.

"That wasn't nice, Hope." CE said with a huff.

And Hope responded with a scoff. "Yeah, whatever." Hope turned from them and continued down the street ahead of her companions.

Riku placed a hand on CE's shoulder. The red haired girl turned to look at him. "Don't stay with her by yourself, no matter what. Got it?" He stated. CE nodded her head and offered him a reassuring smile before skipping off in the direction CE had went. "Guys, we need to find a place to rest for the night!" Riku called.

* * *

Nero glanced around the corner of a building. The street was filled with a group of them. He spotted a young girl he remembered from the facility with a strange man following behind her. Nero could tell by his ragged and unkempt appearance that he was nothing but trouble. But he didn't give a single thought about the girl's well-being. He worried only of himself.

Nero glanced down at the black plastic watch on his wrist. It was nearly five. The sun would be setting soon. And he didn't want to be out on the streets at night.

Nero stuck close to the wall of the building and made is way forward with his sword in hand. He knew for a fact that if he wanted to survive in this world he needed a team. One that was hindered by the weak, but by the ambitious and determined individuals that wouldn't make others fall.

Nero caught the sight of one of them far too close. And he was startled by its appearance. It was actually running. Running at him. And he cursed. That was what he needed. For them to actually grow a brain.

What caught him off guard was that it yelled like a damned person.

* * *

The group filtered into the large driveway. Josh and Carlos shut the large gate behind them softly. Phil glanced around at the group. "Shea and Josh; check the main floor. Luna, Carlos and-" "Hey!" Phil turned and noticed a girl with poofy black hair on the other side of the fence. And an awkward looking man stood behind her. "Can you let us in too?" She asked. "My names Smiley." Phil glance around at the group and Luna nodded her head.

"Why not? The more the merrier, right?" Luna stated. Phil nodded his head and mumbled a small 'yeah'. Carlos and Phil opened the door and let the two in. The man gave a small bow to Phil and introduced himself to everyone.

"Kyou and Smiley; check the yard. Luna and Takeda, you've got the second floor. And Carlos and I've got the basement," Phil stated. "Any questions?" Everyone remained silent. Phil glanced at Luna from the corner of his eye.

Luna turned to Phil, who had been staring at her for a while. "What is it?" She whispered. Phil casted a glance to the black haired man that had joined their group with Smiley. "Keep an eye on him. He looks like trouble." Phil mumbled. Luna nodded her head and left with the others to enter the house.

* * *

Sayaka pointed a finger at Hawk. "What did you just do? Did you just heal?" Sayaka asked. That was her first thought. The dead man behind the counter could wait. The male teen before her, in the small corner store, had just healed a neck wound. In a matter of seconds.

She watched him rip the bullet fragments out of his neck. That wasn't normal. The zombie apocalypse wasn't normal. But that was besides the point.

"Yeah. I can do that. Heal myself." Hawk stated. Bishop listened to the two as he grabbed a few plastic bags from behind the counter. He stepped over the dead man's body and reached for a flashlight on the wall. He moved around the store grabbing anything that was useful. A few bags of chips, bottles of water, a lighter, some newspaper. And a few energy drinks.

"And him?" Sayaka asked. "Bishop, has heightened reflexes." Hawk stated. Hawk grabbed a candy bar and threw it in Bishop's direction. Bishop caught the chocolate bar without so much as a glance in Hawk's direction. "Hold that for me?" Hawk asked. "Yeah. Anything else besides the basics?" Bishop asked.

"Toilet paper." Hawk said with a shrug.

"By the way, I'm Sayaka." She said. "I'm Hawk. And that's Bishop." Hawk said as he gestured to the dark haired male. Bishop gave a small wave in greeting.

"So are there more like you guys?" Sayaka asked. And Hawk nodded his head. "Yeah, but some of us aren't as friendly. They're dangerous."

* * *

Ren suffered from a nasty bite on her ankle that she decided to keep quiet. The only person that had seemed to notice was Yori. And all he did was give her a small smile. He pressed a finger against his lips. A clear sign for her to keep her mouth shut. She didn't understand why, but she wasn't going to ask. She didn't like his presence.

Alex glanced over her shoulder at Ren, who was struggling behind the group. "Hey, are you alright?" Alex asked. She moved towards Ren to help her out. But Ren backed up slightly away from her friend. "I'm fine, just keep going. I hurt my foot yesterday in gym." Ren said. It was the truth. She had fell at an awkward angle on her left foot. And it was a good coverup for her limp.

"Then maybe one of the guys should carry you." Alex said. A hot blush dusted Shin's face. And he awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I-I have back problems, sorry." He lied.

"Everyone here knows you're a perv Shin, no need to pretend your not." Alex said. A small laugh escaped M. And she slammed her hand playfully onto Yori's back. "He can carry her, I don't mind." M said. Yori shot M a glare and moved to Ren's aid.

* * *

"That's awesome the lights are out." Carlos mumbled. He glanced down the dark stair way and then to Phil. "We don't have a choice. The light's are off. And so is the boiler." Phil stated.

Carlos noticed a box of matches on the wall inside of the cellar doorway. Carlos lit one and handed the box to Phil. The two descended the steps in darkness with only two little flames to guide their way. "The chances of any of them being down here are very slim," Phil stated. "The door was locked."

"Yeah, unless the house owner decided to lock a few of 'them' down here for safe keeping." Carlos replied.

* * *

"Wait!" Fen raised her arms. "I'm human!" And Nero 's grip on the English long sword tightened. It really was a human. A small sigh left his lips at her appearance. "Why, are you dressed like that?" He asked.

And then she became emotional. A few tears escaped her eyes. "It was a zombie race. Filled with completely healthy people, until someone actually got bit." She said. Nero nodded his head. And turned to leave. Fen followed him. She followed him for a while. "Can't you follow somebody else?" He finally asked.

Fen shook her head. "There is no one else. And I can help too, please let me stay with you?" She asked. Nero rolled his eyes and continued in his way. "You don't even have a weapon." He called. Fen glanced around and noticed a beer bottle on the floor. It would have to do for now.

* * *

A startled chock escaped Takeda's lips. The dead woman collapsed to the floor. Luna had slammed the wooden end of the broom into the woman's skull multiple times. She had nearly taken a bite out of Takeda's arm. "Jeez, grow a pair would ya'." Luna stated. Luna rolled her eyes and continued down the hall. Takeda glared at Luna as she walked into another room. He followed behind her and softly shut the door behind him.

* * *

CE picked a room that she liked and a large smile came to her lips. She jumped on the bed a few times. Sure they were only here temporarily but she loved it. Riku entered the room and waved at CE to get her attention. "Nero is here." He said. "And he brought someone with him."

CE smiled at Riku. "A new friend?" Riku nodded his head. "Yeah, her names Fen. She's normal. She went to school not too far from here." CE quickly descended the stairs with Riku behind her. "I'm going to look for some food. Want anything?" He asked. CE smiled. "Anything would be okay." She said.

Hope smiled at Riku and Fen. "And this is CE." Hope said as she gestured to the red haired girl.

* * *

"I wonder if Luna and that weirdo guy are done checking upstairs." Josh said. "We should go check it out." Shea added. She was up the stairs before him. One of the rooms caught her attention. The door was shut and locked. "Josh, it's locked." Josh's eyebrows furrowed at the information. All of the other doors were wide open. The only room they could be in, would be this one.

"Break it down." Shea hissed. Josh didn't need to hear her say it twice. He rammed his body into the door. The door shook slightly. And he did it again. The door popped open and the two rushed into the room towards the window.

Luna's broom was on the floor. And Takeda was in the process of trying to push her out the window. "Hey!" Josh yelled. Luna yelled at the man who clawed at her arm. He had successfully gotten her out the window, she just held onto him once had. Her arm began bleeding from his nails digging into her flesh. But she wouldn't let go.

Kyou and Smiley had witnessed the whole ordeal from outside. Kyou ran back inside and Smiley yelled and screamed at the man trying to force the girl out of the window. She'd kill him herself.

A small cry escaped Luna's lips from the pain. And the fear gripped at her chest. The fear of hitting the ground.

* * *

Phil and Carlos successfully switched on the lights and the boiler without any distractions from the dead. Phil's thoughts drifted off to earlier in the day when Blair was still alive.

_The others had left through the gate quietly. They didn't need to draw anymore attention to themselves. Blair was already bitten by one of 'them'. A small sigh escaped her lips. And she gave a small smile to Phil and Carlos who still remained. "Thanks for this."_

_Phil glanced away from her. And Carlos offered a small sad smile. "Turn around." Blair exhaled and did as she was told. A smile came to her lips. And a few tears spilled from her eyes. "Just talk for now." Phil mumbled._

_"There was this awesome concert I went to a few days ago downtown. The Band was performing. It was really awesome. I saw a few people from school..." Blair continued in her speech. She was completely distracted. Phil glanced at Carlos and nodded his head._

_Blair continued talking as Carlos raised the bat high into the air._

"Dude, it wasn't your fault. Anyone can die, now." Carlos said. Phil nodded his head. "Yeah. Just-"

Phil was cut off by a loud string of curses that sounded unfamiliar and the small cries of Luna in the distance. The two glanced at each other before rushing up the stairs. Kyou met them at the door. And he yelled. "That guy is trying to throw Luna out the window!" Kyou yelled.

* * *

Yori felt the difference in Ren's body temperature. She was becoming cold. And her skin felt clammy. He suddenly dropped her to the ground. A small groan escaped her lips. "Why the hell did you do that?" Alex asked. Shin stared at Ren in worry. He dared not approach her. He felt strange about her appearance. It bothered his stomach.

"She's turning into one of them." Yori finally stated. "She kept it from us. She's been lying this entire time. She's put this whole team in danger."

Ren softly shook her and slowly got to his feet. "He told me not to tell anyone." Ren stated. Her body shook slightly. Shin backed away from her and stood beside M. M watched the scene play out in worry. She didn't know what was going to happen.

"She's hallucinating. It's already happening." Yori stated. He pointed the small revolver at Ren and fired. A startled yell escaped Alex. She pushed the firearm in Yori's grip. The bullet struck Ren in the neck and she fell to the ground, motionless. M stared wide eyed at the whole situation. Alex jumped on Yori knocking him to the ground. She struck him in the face a few times. M scrambled forward and pulled at Alex.

Alex swung an arm behind her. And her hand connected with M's cheek. "Guy!" Shin's startled yell pulled their attention to the now moving Ren. Her body twitched on the ground. Her fingers moved. And her body bent forward as she slowly got to her feet. Yori threw a stunned Alex off of him and pushed M off to the side.

"I fucking told you." Yori stated. He raised his gun and fired.

* * *

**And I'm still looking for your characters romantic interests. I want the creators of the OCs to have the choice of who they end up with, so please pm me. **


	10. DEAD City

**Enjoy! And thanks for all of the wonderful reviews.**

* * *

Luna screamed up at Takeda. "You fucking asshole! I'll haunt you if I die!" Smiley stared up at Luna from the ground, a worried look etched onto her face. Blood spilled onto the ground beneath Luna. And a few drops landed on Smiley's face. The wound on Luna's arm was killing her. And Josh frantically shaking Takeda wasn't helping either.

Shea had reached through the window beside Takeda and pulled at the sleeve of Luna's shirt. "Hold on!" Shea said.

"I'm trying." Luna said as she gritted her teeth. Her arms were killing her.

"Let go." Smiley called. "I'll catch you."

Luna casted a glance over her shoulder to black haired girl two stories below her. Luna breathed out. It was crazy to think that Smiley could break her fall. But Takeda was trying to rip Luna's arm off. And she couldn't bare the pain any longer. Falling just didn't seem like a bad idea.

A gasp escaped Shea's lips. Her hand held a torn piece of Luna's uniform sleeve. Shea's mouth dropped open. Smiley had caught Luna. And the two girls were perfectly fine. That was not normal.

Her gaze then shifted to Josh. Takeda had forced him up against the wall with Luna's broom at his throat. Josh struggled for breath. His feet barely centimeters from touching the floor.

Shea swung the desk leg in her hand at the man's head. Takeda stumbled away from Josh and the teen collapsed to the ground. Josh regained his breath and stood on hs feet. The man turned an angered gaze to Shea. And a trail of blood trickled down the side of his head. Carlos and Phil charged into the room.

"Grab him." Phil said. Carlos and Shea moved to grab Takeda. Josh grabbed the man as well.

Phil moved to the window and noticed Luna outside with Smiley and Kyou. A puzzled look covered Phil's face. "Did Luna fall out?" He asked. Shea nodded her head. "Yeah, Smiley caught her." She said. Phil's gaze landed on the unruly black haired girl. He then focused on Luna.

No broken bones. Just the wound on her arm. She held it delicately. And Luna winced in pain when Kyou's fingers lightly dabbed at the wound with a small cloth soaked in alcohol.

* * *

Fen stared at Nero long and hard. She was curious about him. And the others that were around her. They weren't normal, that much she was sure of. Fen wanted to know more. It was the basis of her existence; curiosity. The suspense would kill her.

She had watched Hope inspect the flat screen television. She had mumbled something about never seeing one. And when Riku pushed a button on the remote. Sound blared from the speakers and Hope jumped. It had startled her. She placed a hand to her chest in shock. Her heart racing.

Nero rolled his eyes and turned. Fen sat beside him staring curiously. She focused on his facial features. "What are you people?" She asked. Nero scoffed. He gave her a light shove and pushed her aside. She was getting on his nerves. Always in his face.

"If you keep doing that, he'll kill you. You have no purpose for being here." Hope said honestly. Fen made a face. He wouldn't, would he?

CE pulled Hope's ear earning a yelp from the girl. "Ow!" Hope complained. "Don't be mean." CE chided.

Nero turned to his companions. And glanced around the house. The doors were locked. Windows were shut. The house was safe... for now. "Quiet down. And shut off the lights." He ordered. The last thing he needed was for the group to draw attention to themselves. 'They' would be quick to come for fresh meat.

"Hey." Nero glanced at Hope. He stared at her uninterested; silent. He didn't know what she wanted. And frankly he could careless. "Nero. They called you that right. That was the name they gave you." She stated with a smirk. His eyebrows furrowed. Why the hell would she have cared.

"A little secret between you and me Geo. I know the answer to why they call you Nero." Her dark brown eyes danced with mirth. "But it's not a good time for that." She turned to leave but Nero grabbed her arm. Hope looked down at his hand on her arm. And his grip tightened. The smirk on her face grew larger.

"You should invest in my well-being. I'm the only one that knows the meaning behind Nero and your real name." She said. Nero glared at her. She yanked her arm away from him.

"You could torture me all you want. But I'd never tell you. I'd rather bite my own tongue off." Hope said with a smile. "Who said anything about torture?" He asked. And Hope sneered. "You can't kill me." Nero huffed and pushed passed her. "We'll see." He called.

* * *

Darkness had settled in. The night was quiet. The city was dead. Even on the outskirts of the once thriving buildings and streets, nothing moved. The streets were barren, except for the dead. They simply stood still. With her heads turned high into the sky. And their mouths open wide. As if awaiting a meal to drop from the heavens.  
Their bodies would twitch at the smallest of noises. And then they would shuffle to he source of the sound to find nothing.

A heavy sigh passed Sayaka's lips. Her grey eyes focused on the dead man across the street. Sayaka had rested her cheek against the window. Her breath fanned out across the glass. It was rather cold outside. And the blood stained furry blanket she had scavenged kept the chill at bay.

She casted a glance over her shoulder. Bishop was awake as well. Hawk had fallen asleep on the other side of the room. It was Sayaka's turn to be the look out. But Bishop was still awake.

"What are you doing?" Sayaka asked. Her words were clipped; cold. Bishop's gaze focused on her. "Tomorrow's plan. We can't stay here." He mumbled.

A small huff escaped her lips. "And why not?" She questioned.

Bishop remained silent for a moment. He wasn't used to speaking to other people. "Not in a strategic place. No water source. Limited escape routes. And it's crowded." He explained. Sayaka nodded her head in understanding.

Her thoughts drifted off to her father. She wondered if he was okay. If he was still alive. Her thoughts drifted to her mother. Sayaka was worried. But then her thoughts drifted to her step-father. She scoffed at the thought of him. She wouldn't mind if he were dead, she'd be relieved. Happy, maybe.

Her gaze drifted back outside. She sat up straighter. Sayaka's eyebrows furrowed. The dead man that was once across the street had disappeared. Sayaka grabbed at the small pillow beside her and threw it at Hawk.

The blonde haired male shot awake. He sat up in the twin sized bed and gave Sayaka a small glare. "What time is it?" He asked. "Three. It's your shift. And a few of them are moving around so keep an eye out!" Sayaka said with a grumble.

* * *

Alex glared at the back of Yori's head. He had killed her friend. But she turned. He did the group a favor. Ren had endangered the team. But killing her the way he did was uncalled for. Alex was bothered by his presence. Shin even kept his distance. He stood close beside Alex. And M walked beside Yori. She would cast a glance over her shoulder at Alex. A worried look held her features, but she never said anything.

"Where are we going?" Shin asked.

"We need to find a gas station." Yori replied. Shin nodded his head. "The nearest one is a few blocks away. We should be there before it gets dark." Shin said.

"We should find somewhere to rest." Alex said.

"There's a house right next door. I used to live in this neighborhood." Shin stated.

The small group stared at the gas station. The sun was beginning to set. And they didn't want to wander the streets at night. Alex and Shin remained outside while Yori and ! Searched the gas station.

"We should just leave them," Shin hissed. Alex focused her gaze on Shin. "He's insane!"  
Alex glanced back at the two inside the shop. "M doesn't seem that bad. And we could leave. But it'd be hard with only two of us." Alex said.

M grabbed a plastic wrapped honey bun. She inspected the small package. And a small smile came to her lips. "I don't remember the last time I had one of these." She said. Yori glanced back at her with a smile. "Grab food and water. Anything else that we can use."

M grabbed a string backpack off a rack and filled it with bottles of water and food. A flashlight, some lighters, a pen and a notepad. "Anything else?" M asked. "Yeah we need-" Yori stopped himself short. A small can rolled across the floor. The can hit his shoe. M and Yori glanced in the direction the can had come from.

The two slowly walked forward. "Wait!" A young teenage boy pushed himself from behind the counter. "I'm just trying to get food for my sister." He said. The young boy had light blue eyes. He couldn't have been older than sixteen.

Yori quickly moved forward and wrapped his fingers around the boy's neck. He squeezed. The boy chocked. "Yori!" M slammed her body into the black haired male. She wouldn't have been able to move him otherwise. Yori released his grip on the young teen. M had slammed him into the freezer.

The young male grabbed the cans that were scattered in the ground and bolted. He didn't glance back. M watched him leave. And a sigh of relief escaped her lips.

Yori grabbed M by the shoulder and spun her to face him. She had barely caught the sight of his hand. But the loud slap to her cheek followed by its force knocked her to the ground. She pressed her fingers softly against her cheek. And she stared up at him in disbelief.

"Never get in my way again." Yori growled.

* * *

Carlos and Josh tied Takeda to a chair. And held him in a room separated from the others.

"So what exactly happened?" Kyou asked. He stared at Luna. Her hair was frazzled. And her wound was wrapped. Shea paced across the room, a few huffs escaped her lips. She was angry.

Who exactly was worth trusting?

Luna folded her arms under her chest. She avoided eye contact with Kyou. "Come on." He whispered. He took a step closer to her. A sigh escaped her lips. "He tried to..." Luna trailed off. She hoped that Kyou would understand what she meant by that. Kyou's eyebrows furrowed. "He what, tried to force himself on you?" Kyou whispered back.

Luna nodded her head. She bit her lip and a single tear escaped her eye. "I fought back. And told him I'd tell everyone. He then tried to throw me out of the window." She explained.

"Then we get rid of him." Phil stated. He didn't mean to eavesdrop. But he needed to know. And he was sure that Luna wouldn't have minded much considering they were already friends.

"Get rid of him?" Everyone turned to Smiley. Her lips were pressed into a thin line. "I get ride of the body."

"What are we killing him?" Carlos had exited the room. And had just shut the door behind himself.

"Which is worse: throwing him out into the streets or killing him?" Kyou asked. Phil shook his head. Takeda was a scumbag. And a criminal more than likely. He had attacked a member of the team. What else was he capable off?

"We get rid of him. He would come back, if we let him go." Phil stated. Carlos nodded his head. "Yeah I have the same feeling." Carlos said.

Phil and Carlos reentered the room once everyone had come to an understanding of what was going to happen. Luna and Shea remained downstairs talking amongst themselves softly about the recent events. Luna thanked her for entering the room earlier. If it hadn't have been for Josh, Shea and Smiley. She wouldn't have been alive.

Kyou passed the two girls on that were seated in the couch. He handed a bottle of water to Luna and offered her a reassuring smile.

* * *

Riku had found a deck of cards that were lying around. He played a simple of Go Fish with CE. "Ha! I won." Riku said. A frown pulled at CE's lips. A large huff escaped her lips and she stomped her foot on the ground. A small chuckle escaped Riku's lips. "Whatever," CE huffed. "I'm still champion." She said.

He nodded his head. Riku couldn't argue with that. He rarely ever bet her in the game Go Fish.

A loud knock on the door caught their attention. Riku and CE turned their head from the kitchen table to the door. They remained silent. Riku still held the recently shuffled deck in his hands.

Fen, who had dosed off on the sofa while watching the news, suddenly sat up. A startled look covered her features. Her eyes focused on the door. Hope stared uninterested for her spot on the floor beside Fen. The pounding on the door continued. "Please! Help me!" A voice called.

Nero descended the stairs. He stared at the door. "Don't move. Leave them alone." He simply said.

Fen shot up. "We can't just-" "Shut up!" Hope hissed. She cut fen off and shot a nasty sneer in her direction.

"There's a horde of them outside. That guy brought them here. Getting rid of them won't be easy. And you'd all be in danger." Nero explained.

"Come on please!" The voice called.

M had left the gas station with the others in silence. Alex stared at M curiously. Alex had noticed a subtle change in her attitude. And she couldn't help but notice the bruise that was beginning to form on her left cheek. "How'd that happen?" Alex asked.

"I tripped." M muttered softly. Shin scoffed at the lame excuse. And Yori wasn't interested at all in their conversation.

"Let's find a good place to stay the night." Alex said. She glared at Yori and walked ahead of the rest of the group.

They decided on a house with a rock wall surrounding it and a small metal gate. Alex softly lifted the latch on the gate and moved for the front door. The others flanked her sides, before shutting the gate behind them.

* * *

"There are people at the door." Hawk said softly. "They're trying to get in."

Bishop glanced outside of the window. A group of four people stood outside of the house trying to make their way inside. Hawk moved across the room and shook Sayaka awake. "Get up, we have company." He said.

"What?" She threw the fluffy blanket off of her and grabbed the decorated katana she had found in one of the rooms. The hilt was decorated with golds and reds with a dragon engraved on it accompanied by the name: Hideki Kudo. Most likely the name of the previous owner.

Bishop turned to Sayaka and Hawk. "We could let them in, they might not be dangerous." He said. "Maybe."

"Alright." Hawk said. "We should right, and if they try to hurt us...Drop them."

"This is a bad idea." Sayaka grumbled.

* * *

Alex was shocked when the door swung open without any effort. She backed away. A male with dirty blond hair stared back at her. "I didn't know anyone else was here, sorry." Alex said. "It's alright." He mumbled. His gaze drifted across the others and he pointed a finger at M. "You!" He said. M jumped startled. "Hawk?"

"Wow, you guys know each other?" Shin asked.

"Yeah, she left in the middle of a fight." Hawk explained. Bishop appeared behind Hawk. "There was a conflict of interest." Bishop said. M softly rolled her eyes. She patted Hawk on the shoulder and pushed passed him. "I missed you too." She said. Shin stepped in after her figuring it was alright.

Alex remained still, until Hawk gestured for her to entire. Bishop whispered softly to Hawk about the last person.

"That's Yori. He's trouble keep tabs on him." Bishop whispered. Hawk smirked at Yori. "So your the guy that has M wrapped around your finger." He said. A small smirk pulled at Yori's lips. And he chuckled. "Yeah, it's cute. But bothersome. The kind that you wanna smother." He said.

Hawk picked up the suggestive tone in Yori's voice. And the cold look in his eyes. "Thanks for saving our necks." Yori said. He stepped passed Hawk and Bishop and entered the house.


	11. DEAD Weight

**Another update. I'm happy I got this out. This chapter was more focused on Hawk and Alex's group. I'd don't really know what to do with Phil's group right now. I'm running through some ideas, but I'm not really sure yet. **

**On a side note, I'm not too sure when I will be able to update next. I start school again in two days and I just got a job. So updates will be a little slower than usual. I also didn't really re-read this chapter, so please ignore the typos. I also have been writing these last two chapters with my IPad, hence the plethora of mistakes. Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

M smiled at Hawk who simply glared back at her. He turned his attention back to the bag of chips in his hands. M scooted across the sofa closer to him. "Sorry I left." She said. She tilted her head to the side when he remained silent. He was ignoring her. A small frown pulled at her lips. She snatched the bag of chips from his hands and left. "Hey!" Hawk protested.

Alex watched M run up the stairs whilst stuffing a few potato chips into her mouth. "She's... childish." Alex mumbled. Hawk scoffed. "More like an idiot. She does things without thinking." He mumbled. Alex gave a small shrug of her shoulders and took a long sip from the juice box in her hand. She had been so thirsty. A relieved sigh escaped her lips. "She'll learn eventually. Though it might be the hard way." She said.

Bishop opened the fridge and stared at the metal contraptions insides. Sayaka stood behind him with her arms folded across her chest. "Have you never seen one before?" She asked. Bishop glanced over his shoulder at her. "It's been a while." He mumbled. Sayaka nodded her head.

"Yori and M. They're like you and Hawk too, right?" Sayaka asked. Bishop simply nodded his head. He shut the fridge after grabbing a pudding cup and turned to face her. "M has a good heart. She doesn't think straight, but she's okay." He said. Sayaka stared at him curiously. "And Yori?" She asked. Bishop shook his head. "Dangerous. Watch yourself around him." He warned. Sayaka's eyebrows furrowed. "But M-" Bishop cut Sayaka off. "She knows. She thinks the good in everyone will always win out." He explained.

* * *

Phil and Kyou had taken out Takeda quickly. They didn't want any second thoughts about killing him. Takeda had tried to harm one of their friends and he paid the ultimate price. His body was wrapped in a bag and rested on the floor. Smiley stared down at the body with a small frown on her face. "Where do I put him?" She asked.

The others stared at her for a moment. "Obviously the street." Carlos stated playfully. Shea rolled her eyes. "This is not the time for jokes." She muttered. Smiley nodded her head and grabbed the body. She hoisted Takeda into the air and rested him on her shoulder. Kyou's mouth fell open slightly.

The black haired girl held a grown man on her shoulder with just one arm. That was not normal. "Do you lift?" Josh asked sarcastically. Smiley thought for a moment before nodding her head. "H-how much?" Kyou asked.

"About three times my weight." Smiley stated.

"Where'd you come from?" Carlos asked curiously.

"The School." Smiley stated. She stared at them for a moment in curiosity. She had her suspicions that they weren't like her, but she hadn't known for sure. The fact that they didn't recognize the name of the facility was obvious enough with the strange look on their faces.

"Smiley, what school?" Luna asked. Smiley's eyebrows furrowed. Why were they asking so many questions? Didn't they know? Phil stared at Smiley. "I don't think it's a school. That's what it's called, the place she came from." Smiley nodded her head and turned from them. She didn't like holding Takeda's body on her shoulder. "I'll be back." She said and she walked towards the front door.

"I'll go with her." Josh said. He followed after her with his baseball bat in hand. It was safer than going out alone.

* * *

CE twirled in a circle around the living room with her arms in the air. She was happy. There was no more stupid lab coats, no stupid needles, and no stupid scientists. The things he loved most was that she had the people she cared about beside her. Sure there were a few people missing, but she couldn't complain. She felt blessed.

But the damned banging on the front door was driving her nuts. CE halted in her movements and focused her gaze on the door. It was annoying. She was tired of them on the other side, the other people who wanted help. Her lips pressed into a thin line, her hands clenched tight, and she glared.

Nero stood on the stairs with his arms folded across his chest. He stared between CE and the door. He noticed the signs of her oncoming tantrum. Her cheeks puffed out and her face became red. "Don't." Nero said with a small shake of his head. Hope scoffed from her spot in the couch. She lounged across the leather seat with a smug look on her face.

"Who said you were boss?" Hope asked. "Scream all you want, CE. He won't stop you."

CE was about to do just that when Riku stood his head into the room from the kitchen. "I found some awesome food, anyone want any?" CE's attention turned to Riku. "No!" She yelled. "They need to shut up!" She pointed to the door.

Fen's eyebrows furrowed and she crossed her arms. "We can't just leave them out there."

"Watch us, they have put us at risk already. Why should we help them?" Nero stated. He descended the stairs with his sword in hand. He didn't like trouble, especially when it put himself and the others with him at risk.

"Then get rid of them." Hope said with a sadistic smirk. Fen shot a worried glance in the girl's direction. She couldn't have been series, right? CE pulled at hair and stomped into the kitchen. "Just make them stop!" She yelled. Nero glanced at Riku and Hope. They silently agreed on who'd take care of the job to make CE stay silent.

The smile on Hope's face grew larger. Fen stare at her wide eyed in fear. She came to the conclusion that the people she was with were all nuts. They didn't value human life at all. And she feared most of all for her own safety.

Hope jumped to her feet and grabbed the silver dagger from the living room table. She smirked at Nero who now stood beside the door. "Just don't lock me out." She said. "And be careful the dead are already outside." Riku called.

"Then when these punks are done, you can all join me." Hope stated as she quickly slipped out of the door and past a rather large tanned man. Fen caught a small glimpse of the damage the small white haired girl had caused before Nero had shut the door. The tip of her blade slid into the side of the man's neck, followed by the sudden scream of a woman and the angered yells of another man.

A small sadistic smirk pulled at Riku's lips before he returned to the kitchen.

* * *

M sat Indian style on one of the beds upstairs with a large white shirt on that rode up to her hips. Her eyes focused on Yori who was across from her. He fumbled through the drawers of the dresser, trying to find himself something comfortable to sleep in.

M had refused to share a room with Sayaka and Alex and said something along the lines of modesty didn't matter. Sayaka shook her head in shame along with Alex, who joked about the situation.

Yori slipped out of his short and his pants. He pulled on the set of clothes he had found, a green stripped pajama set, and turned to face M. He sat down beside her on the bed and she frowned. She was upset with him. Yori brushed his fingers along her cheek and swept a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he mumbled. M stared at him for a moment before nodding her head with a small smile. She forgave him. Yori knew she would, all she wanted was to be accepted by him, anyone really. All he did was use her in The School to get on good terms with the other scientists and The Director. He wanted to find out who had killed his little brother. And out of all people in the world M was the cause of all of his pain.

Yori smiled softly at M and leaned towards her, his lips barley brushing against her own.

* * *

Alex shook her head. Her gaze was directed to the stairs. She wondered how M was doing with Yori. Hawk chuckled. He softly nudged Shin in the ribs. "Alex says your a perv. What base do you think Yori got to already?"

Shin bristled at the mere thought of M and Yori together. His face reddened and he awkwardly scratched his neck. He hated to admit it, but his thoughts had drifted off in that direction on several occasions. "I-I'm not really sure." Shin mumbled. Hawk and Alex laughed at how embarrassed he was.  
"Definitely a home run, right?" Sayaka stated, with a small smile. Shin covered his nose for fear of blood dripping down. The others laughed and Bishop even chuckled at Shin.

"If its a home run, it's been about five." Bishop mumbled. Alex gave the teen a strange look. He turned to her and explained the situation. "Those two can run faster than an Olympic runner, and they have the stamina to go even further. You get the picture." Bishop said. Shin gulped at the information and a sweat broke out across his forehead.

Hawk laughed at the look on Shin's face. "You have problems man." Hawk said.

* * *

Smiley dropped Takeda's body into a ditch and turned her attention to Josh. She gave him an awkward smile and turned to leave. He touched her shoulder and watched her jump away from the contact. Smiley glared at him and he apologized. He realized he needed to be a little more careful around her.

"The School, are you the only one from there?" Josh asked. Smiley shook her head and pursed her lips. She thought for a moment. "No, Smiley, Yori, M and Hawk are from the School too." She said. Her thoughts then drifted to M and her eyebrows furrowed. M always followed Yori. So if Smiley found M, Smiley would find Yori too. She came to that conclusion and then hooded her head.

"Smiley will find M no matter what!" She declared. Josh stared at her in silence. Smiley wasn't off her rocker, but she was a little up there, he was sure of it. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a group of them dragging their bodies toward them. Smiley had been a little too loud.

"We gotta go! I'm sure Phil and the others are waiting for us." Josh said.

* * *

Hope smiled down at the bodies that laid on the doorstep. A small maniacal laugh escaped her lips and she pressed a hand to her head. If only she had been able to do the same to the scientists when had broken out.

Fen wanted to open the door when Hope knocked. Tears had filled the girl's brown eyes when she heard the other people scream in pain as well as Hope. She didn't expect the girl to make it out alive. Hope didn't even want help with the few zombies that had filtered into the front yard. Hope knocked on the door saying more of them were on their way.

Curiosity had gotten the better of her and Fen moved to open the door. CE grabbed her arm with a smile before her hand could reach the doorknob. "Play cards with me and Riku." She said. CE tugged on her arm and dragged her to the kitchen. Nero opened the door to let Hope inside. Hope's stomach churned at the sight she saw. She noticed a severed hand on the right in front of the door. The white haired girl was covered in blood with a horrible large smile on her face.

Nero glanced at Fen and rolled his eyes at the look on her face. "Relax, this is what our world is like." He simply said.

* * *

Yori had softly pressed his lips against M's and she flinched softly at the unknown contact. Hesitantly she pressed her lips against his and his hands skimmed down her cheeks to her neck. His fingers wrapped around the base of her neck and squeezed.

"Yori, that hurts." She complained and pulled away from him. His finger tightened and M clawed at his hands. "I know." Yori said with a small sadistic smile. He pushed her down onto the bed and straddled her body. He couldn't take any chances with her trying to fight back. He needed her gone and fast. M's eyes widened as tears filled her eyes. She opened her mouth to scream, but chocked for air instead.

Her vision began to blur. And dark spots filled her line of sight. M's foot weakly kicked out towards the edge of the bed. From what she remembered there was a shaky nightstand beside the bed. Her foot lightly tapped it. And a wave of relief filled her accompanied by fear. She kicked her foot out faster than before, knocking the vase to the floor.

Yori released his grip on her neck and cursed. The vase shatter against the floor spreading into a million pieces. M stared up at Yori and her eyes fluttered shut.

* * *

Bishop glanced towards the ceiling at the sound of something breaking. "Sounds like they're having fun." Hawk stated. He had simply said this to bother Shin, who had just cleaned the blood that had slipped from his nose.

"My god, stop." Shin complained.

Alex casted a worried glance upstairs. Her thoughts drifted back to the bruise on M's cheek. The only person who had been with her was Yori at the time she had gotten such a mark. And he had blatantly lied about how she had gotten such a nasty bruise one her face.

"I want to check on her." Alex said with a small worried look. Hawk quickly caught on to what she meant and nodded her head.

Alex and Hawk made their way upstairs and knocked on the shut door of the room M and Yori had occupied. Yori mumbled in response inviting the two inside. Alex opened the door and noticed Yori was on the far side of the room staring out of the window. The broken vase laid in pieces on the wood floor. And M was sprawled on the bed sound asleep with clear shot of her black underwear.

"M's going to sleep with Sayaka and I tonight." Alex said. Yori shrugged his shoulders and muttered a small whatever.

Alex softly shook M to get her to wake. The brown haired girl remained still. Yori chuckled. "She's a heavy sleeper, dead weight." He said. Hawk picked up M and moved her across the hall. Alex shut the door behind them without saying anything else to Yori.

Hawk rested M on the bed and stared at her curiously. He lifted her arm and dropped it. She remained completely still. Alex glanced around the room and noticed a bottle of water. She hurriedly grabbed the bottle and emptied some of the liquid onto M's face. Nothing. Alex's eyebrows furrowed.

"What the fuck did he do to her?" She asked. "I don't know." Hawk said.

He leaned his ear towards M's lips. She was breathing. It was good sign, but her breaths were soft and shallow. "We need Bishop. We'll deal with Yori later." Hawk said.

* * *

Phil stared at Smiley. She rubbed her arms awkwardly as everyone stared at her. "They were bad in The School, the men in the white coats." She mumbled. She didn't like any of the attention they were giving her. "They hurt Smiley and the others. Needles, the needles. Smiley won't go back!" She said.

"That's not a school." Luna mumbled. "It sounds like a lab." Carlos said. Phil's eyebrows furrowed. "Live experiments," Phil said. "But for what purpose."

Smile laughed softly. "The voices say for this." She mumbled.

"The voices?!" Shea exclaimed in worry. "How crazy is she?" Smiley turned and glared at Shea. "Smiley is not crazy." She said as she rose to her feat and turned on Shea. Shea backed up slightly at the threatening gesture. Phil stepped between the two.

"Calm down, she didn't mean that." Phil said. He didn't need internal conflict in the group. Tension would just grow between everyone. And with The recent events things weren't going to well to begin with. Takeda had screwed up the group. Only with time would trust be earned and their wounds healed. Even the death of Blair was on everyone's mind still. It was a tender subject that wouldn't be brought up soon.

Smiley took a deep breath and ran upstairs. A door slammed shut behind her. The others talked amongst themselves of The School.

"There's others like her," Josh said. "She mentioned a few people."

"Wait, wait." Carlos said. Everyone's attention turned to him. "If these people from The School are turned into zombies should we be worried?" He asked.

"That's a damn good question." Kyou said from beside Luna.


	12. DEAD Escape

Nero's eyes narrowed into a glare. He held the beige curtains back with his fingers as his eyes roamed the streets. All of the effort Hope had put into keeping 'them' at bay was futile. More of them had appeared when she took out the group of people that were on their door step.

A bang hit the front door. And all eyes turned to the entrance. CE peaked through the small peep hole and reeled back. She was presented with the wide open mouth of a corpse. Blood stained teeth and a rotten torn tongue. "Oh no. They're here." She whined.

Glass shattered in the kitchen and Riku was the first to inspect the room. An army of hands reached through the broken window beside the table. The grey fingers clawed at the air in hopes of reaching the teen in the kitchen. "We need to get out of here." Riku said as he walked back into the living room.

Fen frantically glanced around her eyes wide. She had seen a purse earlier. When they had first entered the home, they had encountered the body of a woman on the stairs and her purse wasn't too far away. Fen was sure a set of keys would be in there; after all there was a red car in the driveway.

Her brown eyes located the bag and an excited shrill passed her lips. She practically leaped through the air to the black designer bag. Her fingers quickly found purchase on a set of keys. "I found it!" She said.

"What?" Nero asked.

"Our way out of here." She finally said. "Does anyone know how to drive?"

The others stared at her in silence with a strange look on their faces. "Do you? Because we've been locked away for years." Riku stated.

Fen nodded her head. "Of course I do." She stated with a reassuring smile. She just wished that her words were true.

* * *

A heavy sigh escaped Carlos. He worried about his family, Larry. He was sure the others were worried and curious as well. Did they survive? Or were they infected and cursed to wander the Earth aimlessly in search of human flesh to satisfy their hunger for a few minutes.

Carlos pressed a hand to his head. Just thinking about it bothered him. Things had settled down after the incident at school. And it gave him time to think as well as the others. The sheer amount of chaos that had followed them was remarkable. And for the first time they were given a break in this hell. He thought it would never happen.

He stared at the cell phone on his hand. It made a small beep noise and the led light at the top blinked red. He pressed the button and dialed Larry's number. The responsive he received was upsetting; the voicemail.

"This sucks." Carlos finally said.

Shea offered him a bitter smile. "Don't sulk. I've been trying to get into contact with my family since all of this happened. And I've got nothing. My phone died too." She said.

Phil entered the room and regarded the two with a small nod. "We need to leave this place. We're low on supplies and in a bad place. There's nothing around here." He said. Luna was seated in a corner of the room with her arms folded across her chest. "We should leave the city; head to the country; somewhere cold." She said.

Phil nodded his head. "There should be less of them out there. And the virus shouldn't be as dangerous in a colder climate." Phil stated. "We'll then we need to hurry."

"Problem is there's only one car." Kyou said. "It's a pick-up truck. But it's not the best of transportation with so many of us. We could all fit, but it wouldn't be comfortable."

"Then we go look for another car or truck. Simple as that." Josh added.

"Uh, not simple." Shea stated with a scoff. "If you haven't noticed. It's the dead gone wild outside."

"Fuck, comfort. We're leaving for the countryside now." Luna said as she stood from her seat.

"Alrighty then. Pack light..." Phil said.

* * *

Bishop's hand struck M's cheek. And the girl jumped awake with a strangled gasp. A small 'jeez' escaped Alex's lips at the sight. M backed away from the the people that hovered around her. "W-what's going on?" She asked.

"What did Yori do?" Hawk asked.

"Yori?" M pressed her fingers to her neck and winced at the tender flesh.

Hawk glared and quickly rose to his feet. "I told you not to trust him!" He yelled. He exited the room in a hurry with Alex behind him. M scrambled to her feet a worried look on her features. Bishop pressed a hand to her shoulder and stopped her from leaving. His lips pressed together in a thin line as he shook his head.

Yori had slipped downstairs quietly, with the revolver in his hand, when the others had went to check on M. He quickly slipped out the door. He glanced around the small vicinity of the house and a smirk came to his lips. "It's way too quiet." He said.

He lifted his arm into the air and fired the gun twice. The loud gunshots sounded off and a sadistic smirk came to his lips.

He knew he would be just as satisfied if M died by being eaten alive, it would be complete torture. A kind of torture even she had never experienced. And as for the others, well it would be a shame if they died as well.

* * *

Fen pressed the key into the ignition and huffed. It took a few tries before the machine had decided to start up. A large smile came to her lips. The others had packed themselves into the small car, all nearly seated on one another in the tiny smart car. Fen slammed on the gas and pulled out of the driveway. The car screeched across the pavement at the sharp turn that Fen pulled before taking off.

"What the fuck kind of car is this!" Hope complained from the back seat. She was wedged between CE and Riku with a horrid look on her face. Nero glanced back at her from the front seat. "Hey, keep your mouth shut."

* * *

Phil and Carlos occupied the two front seats of the white pickup truck, each in the driver and passenger seats respectfully while Shea, Smiley, and Luna were in the seats behind them, leaving Josh and Kyou to sit in the cargo area.

"And don't slam on the gas." Josh joked from the back. "I'll do it. Just for you." Phil stated with a chuckle.

The group began moving at moderate pace. There was no need for them to rush. The tank was half full and there were no other car on the streets. "We'll be better off if we avoid the freeway." Kyou said thought the small window. "It's backed up with abandoned cars." He continued.

Luna's eyebrows furrowed. "Video games teach you this?" She asked. Kyou nodded his head. "Tv and movies too. Everyone panics and tries to get out of the city fast. Problem is there's too many people. And no one thinks to use the back roads." He explained.

Shea rolled her eyes. "Anyways, let's get to know each other. We might be spending the rest of our lives together." Shea stated. "So Phil, do you have a girlfriend?"

Carlos' mouth dropped open and Luna scoffed. "That's the first thing you ask. That's exactly what I expected from you." Luna said. Smilie glanced back and forth and the two girls she sat between with a frown on her face. She really didn't want to be in this place right now, sandwiched between two girls who might get into a cat fight in the back seat of a truck.

"Wrong question to be asking." Carlos grumbled a hint of jealousy filled his voice. Phil casted a curious glance in Carlos' direction and smirked. He had caught the tone in his voice, the others hadn't but Phil did. "I won't say anything." Phil said as he returned his gaze to the road.

"Ask another question." Carlos stated.

Shea pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest. "Fine. I'll go." Luna said.

"Are all the rumors at school about you true, Shea?" Luna asked. Carlos gawked once more. Kyou's eyebrows furrowed. "Okay, Luna I know your upset, but you need to relax." Kyou mumbled. She sent him a glare and then directed her attention to Shea.

"Well is it?" Luna asked angrily. Carlos pressed a hand to his face and sighed. He was sure this was Luna's way of channelling her anger. The stress of Takeda's attack must have been a horrible experience. But that didn't give her the right to bring up such a conversation. "Knock it off!" Carlos said. "Hey!" Phil glanced back at them for a split second before returning his gaze to the road.

"Take that back!" Shea yelled. "You don't know anything, especially what's its like for someone to truly struggle!" She flailed her arms in Luna's direction and Smiley's eyes widened. Luna kicked her feet out towards Shea and accidentally hit Smiley in the leg.

Smiley grabbed Luna's foot by the ankle and Shea's hand and yelled. "Stop it! I'm sure the street road would be a nice place to be right now. For you, Smiley thinks so!"

The two girls finally quieted down and crossed their arms. They turned away from Smiley, who had let them both go, and a frown pulled at the three female girls' lips.

Phil grumbled a small thanks under his breath.

"A better question is, why are the dead walking." Smiley stated curiously. A chuckle escaped Carlos' lips. "That's Josh's fault."

A look of disbelief filtered across Phil's face. "Really?"

Carlos nodded his head. "He saw a guy he thought was dressed up as a zombie. Teacher goes to check it out and wham, gets bit."

Phil thought back to the photo Luna had shown him of Fen. And he briefly wondered if the girl was okay. He hoped she hadn't gotten mistaken for one of 'them' and was killed.

"This didn't happen because of me!" Josh complained.

* * *

Sayaka ran down the stairs with the decorated katana in her hand. She stared at the wide open door and growled. The dead filtered around the house. "That sneaky bastard." She huffed. Alex and Hawk came beside her and released an aggravated breath. "We've got trouble." Hawk said.

One of them stepped into the house with its arms stretched out. An arrow whizzed passed Sayaka's hair making the strands flutter slightly in the air caused by the projectiles speed. The arrow hit the zombie in the center of the forehead. It's head snapped back and it's arms flew backwards with its body to the ground.

Sayaka whipped her head around to M and glared. The brown haired girl held the crossbow in her hands with an angered look plastered on her face. "Well don't just stand there, you idiots!" She said.

"Nearly took my head off," Sayaka said. "I never miss my target." M replied nonchalantly.

"We need to get out of here." Bishop mumbled pushing passed M. They returned their attention to the front door and took their stances. Sayaka unsheathed her katana and slashed in angles at the zombies that pushed through the door. Hawk struck them with his escrima sticks knocking them to the ground whilst smashing in the heads a few that came too close.

Alex swung her guitar at the strangling zombies that tried to grab them from the sides as they made there way outside while Bishop and M covered them from behind. Bishop popped a few bullets into 'their' heads from a distance. M noticed her small supply of metal arrows and started to grab the ones that were imbedded in the heads of zombies.

"We need to leave!" Hawk said. He reached for Alex and his hand grabbed hers. She was stunned to say the least by the sudden gesture. And she was even more off guard when he yanked her body to the side and started running.

Bishop took off after them while firing the M4 into the crowd that Sayaka and M were trying to keep at bay. M reached out and grabbed Sayaka's shirt collar. She pulled the girl back and pushed her in the direction of the others.

"Here's a good tip, try to run faster than M." Hawk called.

A small smile pulled at M's lips. A large gap had separated Bishop, Alex and Hawk from Sayaka and M.

"Don't trip!" M said as she pulled at Sayaka's shirt sleeve. "Hey!" Sayaka protested. Soon enough the two girls caught up to the others as they ran down the street.

Sayaka glanced up at the night sky once she had slowed down to a regular running pace alongside the others. The clouds appeared heavy and dark. They rolled across the sky in waves covering the light of the moon. Thunder clapped in the distance and Sayaka cursed.

* * *

The small car chugged up the large hill at a slow pace and Fen once again slammed her foot on the gas.

"Where the hell are we going?" Riku asked. Fen remained silent and awkwardly scratched the back of her head. She didn't want to admit it but she was lost. And to make matters worse they were low on gas.

"We need to find a gas station." She stated avoiding the subject. "Keep an eye out for one."

A small huff escaped CE's lips. "This is boring, can we play music?" She asked.

Fen highly doubted that music would be on the air so she pushed the cd button. Classical music filled the car, to be precise orchestra music. "Really." Hope stated in an irritated voice.

Nero pointed at a gas station and Fen quickly pulled the tiny car into the area. Hope and the others in the back eagerly pushed there way out of the car in order to stretch their legs.

Fen was burned with the job of siphoning gas out of a car parked at the gas station while Nero stood nearby. The others filtered into the shop and grabbed water and food. "You have no clue where we are right?" Nero asked with his arms folded. Fen finished her work and softly shook her head. She put the plastic container of the gas she had acquired and began to fill their tiny red car.

"Well at least you know how to drive." He said. "I'll get a map." He turned to leave and jumbled words of protest left Fen's lips. "Don't leave me." She pleaded. "I don't stand a chance against those things, we both know that." She continued in a small voice.

Nero glanced at her and the look of utter desperation written on her face. An irritated sigh escaped his lips. "Fine."

* * *

Smiley had to admit the countryside was beautiful and she was sure the others thought so as well. A few of them had fond smiles on their lips while the others were saddened by the scenery.

Life was becoming difficult. They couldn't even get along well. Who could blame them they were all strangers to one another. Phil, Kyou and Luna only held trust for each other while the same went for Shea, Carlos and Josh. That left Smiley by herself. She was sure apart of them feared her.

"Smiley, you alright?" Phil asked. She glanced up from her lap. Her gaze met Phil's in the rear view mirror of the truck. At least they worried about one another.

They would protect her, she was sure of that. They weren't the type of people to have abounded her like Yori had. And out of all the people she trusted the most it would have had to been Phil. He seemed to be the most diplomatic out off all of them.

The two girls had somehow gotten onto bad terms, something about rumors that had happened at school. Phil wasn't bothered by the gossips of high school. He rarely ever payed attention to them and he hardly cared about the lies that others spat into the air.

But it worried him when it had started a conflict between two of the females in the group. Smiley wasn't one to handle situations lightly either. He could tell she had a temper far worse than Luna and Shea combined.

Phil pulled the car to a stop in a dirt lot and glanced out the window at the small farmers market. They had driven all night, the sun was beginning to rise and a small yawn passed Phil's lips. He was tired and he was sure the others were tired as well.

"Let's get a few things and then rest. We take shifts, two in the cargo area as look outs." Phil stated.

"I already took a nap. I'll be on first watch." Carlos said. "Me too." Shea added.

"Smiley, Carlos and Shea can you guys check out the shop, while I get the others into the front?" The three nodded their heads and silently got out of the car with their weapons ready.

Smiley pushed open the door to the dark shop and the small bell above her head jingled. A string of curses left Shea's lips in a small whisper. The floor boards on the far end of the room creaked and Smiley walked forward with her axe raised high.

Carlos and Shea silently shuffled behind her, their eyes roaming the darkness of the small shop. And then they heard a thump. Shea jumped in the direction with her trusty desk leg in front of her.

* * *

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I actually had a dream about zombies and took ideas from that, lol. **

**Im also going to need a bit of extra information for submitted ocs about their families, just basic info including age, relationship and status(living, dead, infected.) **

**And Eminem's Survival for Call of Duty: Ghosts was another source of inspiration for this chapter. I'm also not sure when I will be able to update again, maybe in another week or so.**


	13. DEAD and Gone

**Here's another chapter. I'm trying to get these out as fast as possible, just bear with me please. I have exams next week so I might not update for another week or so. Well, anyways enjoy! **

* * *

The Director paced around her office. Her manicure nails drummed along her arm in an irritated manner. Her gaze drifted outside and beyond the fence surrounding the compound. She rolled her eyes and turned when the double wood doors swung open.

Two guards stepped forward and threw teenage boy with black hair to the ground before her feet. He lifted his head and glanced behind him. The two large men slammed the doors shut behind them and stood before the door with atomic rifles in their hands. They glared down at the boy who returned the same look.

"Yori." The Director stated. Yori's eyes meet hers and he glared. "Don't give me that face." She said.

The blonde haired woman marched to her desk and sat in the leather chair situated behind it. "I'm proud you've made it this far, but... you've caused a lot of trouble."

* * *

"We should split up." Hawk said and Alex nodded her head. "One group finds shelter, the other looks for any supplies they can find." Alex added.

"Sayaka and M you guys have supplies. That leaves Shin, Bishop, Alex and I to find a new place to get a few hours of shut eye. We all meet back here in an hour." Hawk said.

"And what if one group doesn't show up?" Shin asked. Everyone remained silent. It was decided that at that moment the worst would have been expected.

"We don't give up." M said suddenly. "Let's go."

* * *

Hope watched as the others got some rest inside the small car. She couldn't understand how they were comfortable. CE was sprawled across the entire backseat, her legs rested on Riku's lap while her head was leaned against the window. Hope could see that Fen slept with her mouth wide open while Nero was faced away from her with his face nearly pressed against the window.

Bags had formed under Hopes eyes. She hadn't gotten a single hour of sleep since she had left The School. A strange smile pulled at her lips and she turned away from the car. She spotted two figures in the distance moving down the street away from her. Hope squinted and recognized one of the other teens from The School.

A large toothy smile pulled at Hope's lips as a strange silent laugh passed her lips.

Nero woke from his sleep and lazily opened his eyes. He glanced out the window and sat up straight. He was sure for a fact the Hope had been outside watching the car.

He opened the car door and pulled his sword from the front seat with him. He glanced around, his eyes searching the area.

Hope was gone.

His sudden movements had awoken Riku, who exited the car quietly without waking CE, and stood beside him. "What is it? Where's Hope?" Riku asked. Nero shook his head. "Gone." Nero simply stated.

* * *

Smiley took a quiet step towards Shea and stepped around the table in her way. A small dark creature lunged at her and Smiley smacked the thing with the back of her hand. The small black covered thing gave a startled cry as it bumped into Carlos' leg.

"Wait!" Shea grabbed at the creature. She swiped her hand across its cheek and dirt remained on her fingers. She had gotten close enough to see the light blue eyes the creature had.

A startled cry later and a shriek from Shea. The young child scampered away. Smiley chased after the young child with an angered shout. Carlos stopped her and then pulled at Shea's fingers. He pried her clenched fist open and stared at the small amount of blood on her index finger.

"The little shit bit me." Shea growled.

"At least it wasn't a zombie. You'd have been toast." Carlos said with a sigh of relief.

They returned to the car with supplies. Carlos gave Phil a small report of what had transpired in the small shop. They filed into the car and about an hour later they switched shifts.

Phil glanced around at the group. Everyone had fallen asleep. They were all drained of energy. The constant moving around and fighting had taken everything out of them. And food was scarce. They had all found small thing to snack on, like chips or the occasional piece of bread or honeybun. They were lucky that they had come across so much water over the past few days as well. But soon enough that would be hard for them to find too.

Kyou slowly opened his eyes and a yawn passed his lips. He glanced around and noticed the sun was beginning to rise. His gaze focused on Phil and he stared at the dark haired male whilst stifling a yawn.

"I heard about that weirdo kid that took a bite out of Shea's finger." Kyou muttered. Phil glanced over his shoulder to Kyou and sighed. He took a quick swig of the open water bottle between the two passenger seats. Phil's dark brown eyes turned to meet Kyou's. "It's nothing to worry about. It stopped bleeding after a few minutes. She would have turned by now too. She's fine." Phil stated. His gaze shifted to Shea's face before glancing around at the others in the car.

"What are we going to do man? This world is a mess." Carlos grumbled sleepily. He stretched his arms and sat up straight from his spot beside Phil. A sigh passed Carlos' lips and his stomach growled loudly. "God." He pressed his head against the window with a huff.

"We need to get food." Kyou stated.

"We'll search." Phil stated. "You stay here with the others." Kyou nodded his head and watched the two other males leave the vehicle as quietly as possible.

* * *

Alex and Hawk made their way throw a small decent home with a small flashlight and their weapons. Blood stained the beige colored walls and a corpse lied on the hard wood floor of the hallway. Hawk stepped over the body with Alex close behind him. She had found a sturdy gun from a military officer in the area. He was alone, dead. He had an AK47 with a silencer. Hawk had mentioned it was a good gun. He said he had trained with it for some time, but he hadn't gone into further details.

Alex glanced at a closet that was closest to her. A scraping noise filled the air and the two teens stiffened. Alex's blue eyes focused on the door and her hand reached for the knob. She pulled the door open and raised her gun at the large dead man that stumbled out at her.

It's mouth was wide open; an abyss of darkness and its white eyes stared passed her. It's hands grabbed at her shoulders.

Hawk shoved an escrima stick between the zombie and Alex. The dead man took a bite out of the weapon instead and Hawk took the chance to bash its head in with the second escrima stick in his other hand. The corpse fell to the ground and Alex fired two bullets into its head.

"You alright?" Hawk asked.

Alex nodded her head. "Yeah. I was just caught of guard."

After scooping the rest of the house out. They decided to head back to meet with the others. Alex sat on the ground with a stick in her hand. She glanced down at her ruined uniform and huffed.

She had been so worried about her survival for the first couple of days her appearance didn't matter. Alex actually took notice of the blood stained and ripped clothes that covered her body. Her school socks had massive holes in them and her skirt was tattered, it was even short in some areas. And the amount of dirt that covered her body was ridiculous.

Hawk stood beside her his arms crossed and his eyes roamed the area. He was keeping watch. The others were late. Twenty minutes late to be exact. Bishop and Shin were the first to arrive back.

"We got into a little trouble on the way back." Bishop mumbled. He had found a black bag. Bishop and Shin had found a few useful things, especially food. It was nothing amazing just canned vegetables, but it was better than nothing.

"Sayaka and M are taking long." Shin said. His eyes filled with worry glanced around at his other companions. It had been over an hour of them waiting and the two girls still had not returned. "We should go look for them." Alex said.

"It's in advisable. We don't know where they are. There are millions of those things out here." Bishop pointed out.

"We can't just leave them." Alex said. She rose to her feet and glanced at the three boys. She was going to find them even if they didn't agree with her. "I'm going." Alex turned and Hawk grabbed her arm. "Wait."

She turned to face him with a small frown. "We'll look. Only two hours, then we keep moving." He stated.

* * *

Sayaka casted a glance in M's direction. She had to admit the brown haired girl was naive and reckless. She had a good head on her shoulders, but was far to reliant on her emotions. She judged everyone based on the fact that they could possibly be good.

"So this place that you came from?" Sayaka asked.

"The School? It was home for some people a prison for others." M stated. She didn't bother glancing at Sayaka as she spoke. Her eyes focused on the street. And for the first time Sayaka noticed a dark gleam in the girl's eyes. They eyes of a predator on the hunt for its prey.

"Would you like to know more about it?" M asked. She didn't wait for Sayaka to reply and continued. "We were all taken at some point in our lives. Experimented on, tortured physically, emotionally... It was hell. Some had it worse then others." She explained.

Sayaka's thoughts drifted off to Yori. He was a weirdo in a nutshell. A complete psychopath, but he wasn't always like that, right? "And Yori, what's his deal?" Sayaka asked coldly. She was angered by the way he had treated M. He had tried to kill everyone.

"He was a good person once. I made him that way. Since then I've tried to repay him." M said with a bitter smile.

Sayaka's eyebrows furrowed. "What did you do?"

"I killed his little brother." M said. Sayaka froze and stared at M. She had said it so emotionlessly that Sayaka wondered if she had spoken at all. Did she not feel any guilt. M turned and glanced at Sayaka. "Just like that?" Sayaka asked breathlessly.

M thought for a moment before nodding her head. "There was this arena at The School. The doctors would put us to fight one another to the death. I begged them to change my opponent. They refused. It was either kill or be killed. And if we both refused we would both be killed." M explained.

Sayaka's eyes judged her and M stiffened. She but her lip and glanced away. "I had no choice. Some of the others were subjected to the same treatment. Hope was the worst of us all."

* * *

Riku and CE searched for food, something that would suppress their appetite for a few hours. They had found a few canned fruit and vegetables in the back of an abandoned car. The other items they had come across we're far gone from being considered edible.

They had tumbled upon meat that had been left in the sweltering heat of the sun in the back of the car with milk and a few other things. The horrid smell had even caused Fen to faint. And Nero continues to mutter about how useless she was.

CE flapped her hands at the remembrance of the stench and stuck her tongue out. "Gross." She said.

Riku laughed at her expression and handed a can of opened fruit to Nero. He stared at the open container and picked out a grape before popping it into his mouth. Fen had emptied the contents of her stomach after she came to and cried at her own misery.

Nero rolled his eyes over her dramatics. And CE kindly offered a can of asparagus to the stressed out girl. Fen cursed herself for being left with the last can of the one vegetable she loathed the most.

"So where'd Hope to?" CE asked curiously. She emptied a good portion of canned fruit into her mouth before directing her attention to the others.

Nero simply shrugged his shoulder. He wondered wear she was. She had some knowledge of his past and he wanted that information. He was going to find her. After that he wouldn't care for her well being at all.

* * *

"Haha. I found you little bird." A sinister voice called.

Sayaka and M glanced behind them to the white haired female that stood before them. M stared wide eyed at the white haired girl and exhaled.

Hope smiled at the two sadistically and took a threatening step forward. Sayaka instantly dropped the plastic bag of canned food in her hand to the ground and unsheathed her sword. "Who is that?" She asked.

"Hope." M said.

Hope walked closer to the two with her arms raised. "Relax. I'm unarmed." She said. M didn't believe such a thing. Hope was the kind of person to always have a trick up her sleeve. "You know we had a fight scheduled the day of our 'escape'. I think we should honor the system." Hope said. She charged at Sayaka first.

Sayaka swung her katana at Hope who dodged. Sayaka managed to get a small scratch on the girl's cheek. But she watched the wound heal. An arrow soared throw the air and pierced Hope's arm. She cried at the sudden pain. Sayaka swung her blade down. Hope dodged and swiped her foot under Sayaka's, knocking the dark haired girl to the ground.

Hope grabbed Sayaka's sword and threw it in M's direction. The tip of the blade ripped through the side of M's shirt barely missing her flesh. The force of the attack knocked M to the ground and pinned her to the floor.

Hope ripped the arrow from her arm and stabbed Sayaka in the leg. She held back a scream of pain and gritted her teeth. Sayaka kicked at Hope with her other leg and knocked her to the ground. She slowly tried to drag herself away, but Hope grabbed at Sayaka's ankle and pulled her back.

"Always aim for the weakest link." Hope said with a sadistic smile. She pulled the arrow from Sayaka's leg and aimed to stab her again. Hope was suddenly knocked off Sayaka and thrown to the ground.

M sat above Hooe with Sayaka's katana held at her throat. Hope held back the blade with both of her hands and blood began to appear between her palms. M forced down the blade and Hope cackled. "You do know I can't die right?"

M scoffed and pushed down further. Hope tried to release the pressure that began to dig into her neck. "You don't even know your own limits. I've killed someone like you, nearly died trying." M said. Hope's eyes widened and she protested. "Liar!" She tried to force M back but the sudden weight on the brown haired girl's shoulders forced the blade of the sword down into the concrete ground.

Blood splattered across both M and Sayaka. M casted one last glance at Hope's dead corpse and scowled. Sayaka collapsed to the ground beside M and held her wounded leg. The wound bled more from the strain she forced on it to help M.

Sayaka tore a section of her uniform sleeve off and wrapped it around her leg tightly. Her grey eyes briefly glanced at Hope before turning away. She breathed out and cleared her throat.

"Let's find a way out of here." M held the katana in one hand and tried to help Sayaka who refused assistance. "I'm fine." Sayaka protested.

M grabbed Sayaka's arm and swung it over her shoulder. "Don't be stubborn."

* * *

Nero and the others had decided to go in search for Hope. Nero insisted that they needed to find her. Fen wasn't exactly happy to go searching for the girl, but she had no choice. These people were helping her. Fen drove the smart car for about half an hour before they came to a body on the ground surrounded by the dead.

They didn't get a clear view of the person, but they saw long stark white hair among the grey mindless corpses feeding their hunger. Nero cursed and told Fen to keep driving. A heavy sigh escaped his lips and he pressed a hand to his forehead. How was he going to find out about the past now?

Fen remained silent and averted her gaze from the scene. She cringed. Sure she didn't like Hope, but that didn't mean she wasn't bothered by her death. The others didn't seem all that bothered except for Nero. Though for him, her death appeared to be a mere inconvenience.

"Let's find somewhere to crash for the night." Nero muttered.

"I fell like a damned hermit." Fen grumbled.

Nero threw her a strange look. "Don't you mean nomad."

Fen raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips. In reality, she didn't know the difference. But the word hermit sounded cooler than nomad.

Riku shrugged his shoulders. "What does it matter? Hermit, nomad, wizard... They are all usually old men. Are you an old man Fen?"

CE stifled a laugh and smiled. "Nice going Fen."

A small chuckle escaped Nero and Fen grumbled. "I am not an old man."

CE noticed two figures that shuffled along the side of the road that appeared to be arm in arm. She squinted and then a gasp left her lips. "It's M!" She said and practically jabbed her finger at the glass window.

"Who?" Riku asked. He hadn't heard of this M person before, nor did he want to meet them. But CE's excitement would lead exactly to that situation.

Nero exited the car and approached the two girls. He was sure they knew something about what happened to Hope and he was going to find out. Reluctantly and persuaded to join Nero and the others due to Sayaka's injury, the two girls entered the car. Nero offered Sayaka the front seat to allow her leg a comfortable position to rest.

Nero stared at M and his eyes narrowed at the amount of fresh blood that covered her skin and clothing.

* * *

Alex released an aggravated sigh. They had searched for longer than two hours. A and still nothing. They couldn't find them at all. What in the world had happened to them?

Hawk placed a hand on Alex's shoulder. "There still alive." He said. A bitter laugh passed Alex's lips. She shrugged her shoulders and her eyebrows raised. "How do you know that?" She asked. It was hard to believe that the two of them could possibly still be walking amongst the living.

"Sayaka's stubborn and M's... Well yeah, you know. She has determination." He stateD awkwardly. Bishop nodded his head. He agreed with Hawk. "Their chances of survival are pretty high, considering M's background and Sayaka's swordsmanship skills." Bishop said. He was sure the two made a pretty good team together. They wouldn't exactly be perfect, but good.

"We have to worry about ourselves right now. Things are going to be a little bit more tough with just three of us." Bishop added.

"We should get out of the city. Resources are going to be low, but our chances of survival are going to end end up higher." Hawk said. He took notice of the blank stare on Alex's face. Her mind was elsewhere. She was worried about the other two girls. It had only been a few days since she'd met M and few hours since she'd met Sayaka. But she had grown accustomed to their presence. It felt strange without the two of them around. Hawk and Bishop felt the same, but either of them would never mention such a thing.

"Alex." Her shot to Bishop who stared at her. "Are you alright?" Hawk asked.

A smirk came to her lips. "Of course, I just had my head in the clouds for a few seconds. We should find a car and get out of here."

After finding a set of keys in the ignition of a beat up old blue car. The three teens drove away from the city towards the countryside.

* * *

Shea frowned at the white bandage across her index finger. That scary little child had taken a piece of her flesh with his grimy teeth. Shea shivered at the memory and glanced around at the others in the truck.

Josh smiled. "At least you don't have to worry about eating our brains." He said. Shea shot Josh a playful glare followed by a smack to his arm.

"At least I didn't start this whole mess in the first place." She countered in a low grumble.

Phil chuckled at the running joke. From what he had heard it had started the moment that Josh and run into Carlos and Shea. It had something to do with him getting the teacher bit. Phil doubted that the outbreak was a result of Josh's recklessness. It had to be more complex. The virus could have been airborne or an idiot scientist messed up somewhere and accidentally released an infected human into society.

"It's not Josh's fault. Their are higher powers involved in this." Phil stated as he leaned back in his seat. He shut his eyes and relaxed. The image of a girl with soft features and flowing shoulder length brown hair flooded his vision. She had a smile on her lips. She wore a white dress and had bright green eyes.

A breath o fair passed Phil's lips. It had been a long time since he had last seen Lane or heard anything from her.

"Hey man." The sound of a voice beside him pulled Phil back to reality. Kyou stared at him and pointed to a car that came to a stop across the street from them. "They might be able to help." Kyou said.

"Or they could be trouble." Phil said as he exited the truck. He walked around the car and a few of the others watched curiously as the men of the group decided to inspect along with the curious Smiley who followed behind them.

They were met by three males and a single girl. The first to react excitedly and out of the blue was Josh.

"Shin!" Josh said and the dark haired male smiled at his friend. The two greeted each other with a strange hand shake followed by a pat on the back. "Wow, you made it." Josh said.

Shin frowned. And Alex stifled a laugh with her hand over her mouth. It was a shock that someone like Shin had made it so far, all he ever did was run in the opposite direction of the zombies. "We'll at least we know its a friendly crowd." Carlos said.

"There's a few people that are bat-shit crazy. Watch out for a guy named Yori." Alex said with her arms folded across her chest. "He tried to get our whole group killed."

"Yori?" Smiley suddenly asked. "From The School?"

"Yeah." Hawk said. "It's been a long time Smiley. It's great to see you." He said with a smirk. Smiley pursed her lips at his mock attitude and. "Yori left Smiley to die. He used Smiley to escape." She said.

Phil nodded his head. "Well, we keep an eye out for the bastard. He doesn't sound like a people person." Once everyone had been introduced the tension subsided.

* * *

"M, how'd that happen. You got into a nasty fight with someone, huh." Nero stated. He was trying to get information out of her. He had a feeling that M and her friend had both killed Sayaka. And Hope was his only chance of finding out about his name.

"Hmm." M's gaze turned to the young girl that drove the car, Fen. Her face had paled once she had seen the amount of blood that had covered the two girls. M smiled at her and Fen gasped, her eyes darted back to the road and Riku chuckled.

"You scared the crap out of her." Riku said. A laugh passed CE's lips and Sayaka casted her a strange face before turning back to look out the window.

Nero continued to stare at M and his glare intensified. "What?" M asked in a hostile tone. She hated that he was staring at her in such a way.

"Did you kill her?" Nero asked.

M glanced away for a moment before returning her gaze to him. Was that why he was staring at her in such a way? He was angered that that nut job was dead?

"Yes, she tried to kill me first. "

"Stop the car."

Fen suddenly slammed on the brakes. Nero suddenly jumped out of the car and yanked the back door open. He pushed passed Sayaka and grabbed M. He dragged the girl out of the back seat and slammed the car door shut before Sayaka could move to get out. M fell to the ground and quickly scrambled to her feet. Riku hurried out of the car from the other side and grabbed at Nero.

"Listen. She had to she was protecting herself." Riku defended.

"Yeah, she tried to kill my friend too." M said with a glare.

"We'll it doesn't matter. I know you. Trouble follows you everywhere." Nero said. He gave Riku a small push towards the car. "You'd put them at risk."

Fen hopped out of the car. "We can't just leave her here." She argued.

M thought for a moment before speaking up. "Yes, you can. He's right. I'm trouble." M's gaze drifted to Sayaka in the backseat of the car. Sure these guys had loose morals, but she could handle herself. And she would be safer with them instead of with Sayaka.  
M gave them a small nod. Her gaze met Sayaka's and she smiled reassuringly before running off into the nearby woods. Nero and Fen returned to the car. Sayaka remained silent as she watched M disappear into the woods.

She felt a certain sense of abandonment. It was a strange feeling. Her gaze turned to meet Nero's and a small frown pulled at her lips. Sayaka had trusted M. She had saved her life. But she understood where Nero was coming from. Yori had tried to kill M and then that strange girl Hope too. It made her wonder who else had a bone to pick with M.

CE smiled brightly at Sayaka. She pulled a brightly colored yellow bandaid with designs out from her pocket and stuck it to a cut on Sayaka's cheek. "All better!" CE said with a large smile.


End file.
